WITCH: A different story
by wondertown9
Summary: (Cartoonverse. Set after season 2). After defeating Nerissa, Phobos and Cedric, the girls are living happy in Earth. But a new enemy arises, this time from their home. Also, the past victory has left scars in Meridian and its people, and something is also lurking in the void between the stars, waiting to strike.
1. Chapter 1: Good and caring people

**Disclaimer: I don´t own WITCH and none of its characters. They are the property of the mighty Disney Company**

 **So, this is the first chapter of "** _ **A different story**_ **", my WITCH fanfic. This is gonna be a lighthearted chapter focusing solely in the girls (plus a little of Susan and Dean, because I actually like the couple, they seem good together, and Matt, because it seemed of to me to let him out of the group with everything that went on with Nerissa and Shagon… so here he is. And I actually like the cartoon character. He seemed like a very good boyfriend) while they are on Earth, earning they happy ending after season two.**

 **Also, if you haven´t read the prologue to this story, "** _ **Four Royals of the Supernatural**_ **", read it. It is in my Author´s Page (it´s that how is called?) and helps to set the atmosphere of what this fic is going to be and comprehend some of the things that are going to happen in the first half of the story.**

 **So, now, onto the chapter!**

WITCH

A different story.

Chapter 1: Good and caring people

 _ **The world of Earth. December 18**_ _ **th**_ _ **. Saturday afternoon.**_

Breathe. Relax. Concentrate.

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Concentrate. Count to three.

In the change room, dressed in a competition swimsuit, a 14 year old girl awaited her moment to go outside the room, threw herself into the pool and swim against the best. Her head was covered in her blue, white stripped swimming cap and her eyes hidden by goggles, but under them you could see a bright amount of red hair and a pair of reddish eyes. Strange reddish eyes.

This young woman was called Wilhelmina Vandom. But everyone called her Will. She was a teenage girl. Like the majority of teenage girls, she went to college, she hated math and she hang out with her friends and with her boyfriend; a boy named Matt Olsen. But, not like the majority of teenage girls, she was a Guardian of the Infinite Dimensions too. The Keeper of the Hearth of Kandrakar and receptacle of the power of Quintessence. The leader of the current generation of guardians, who named themselves WITCH.

But at that moment, none of that things mattered. Right then, the thing that mattered the most was that she was a swimmer. A very good swimmer. Even since childhood, she had been swimming and dreaming of competing in the great pools that she saw in TV, to be an Olympic.

So she swam, during all her life. Even when her parents divorced, she has swum. Even after moving from Fadden Hills to Heatherfield, she has swum. Even after becoming a Guardian, she has swum. And now there she was, in a championship amongst the best. Representing her own school against the ones that had been chosen by other schools. Man, it felled incredible when old Miss Knickerbocker had appointed her as their representative in the interschool competition. She almost faded. She went to Matt, she kissed him, went on a date… "No! Focus Will, focus! There will be plenty of time for that later. Focus on the competition…"

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Concentrate.

"I am going to win. For them. For her."

* * *

Outside the building that held the competition that day; the Heartherfield Sport Center; a massive white colored building that held multiple platforms destined to various sports aside from the wing that held the swimming pools; another young girl had just exit the car of her father. Her name? Irma Lair, current Guardian of Water. She stretched herself, and after saying goodbye to her father, the chief of police Tom Lair; she headed for the principal door. Susan Vandom (her friend´s mother) and her current _boyfriend_ (it was weird for someone like Irma to call an adult _boyfriend_. It didn´t seem natural) Dean Collins. She with her dark, deep black-blue hair and tanned skin; and he with his bright brown hair and thick mustache. With them was Will´s boyfriend, Matt; a dark haired boy of average height and weight. Unless he used his powers, that's it. If he used them, he looked like a winged macho man. After all, just like the five girls were the Guardians that held the power of the Hearth of Kandrakar, Matt was one of the three Regents of the Hearth of Earth. The fact that the other two were a cat and a dormouse was a pretty funny matter of discussion in their group meetings.

They were speaking about something, and laughing. Irma noted that Collins was making some sort of impersonation. Like some sort of cowboy man, doing a pose of firing a gun and all.

"What´s with the cowboy pose, Mr. Collins?" asked Irma when she reached the trio. It was Matt who answered, of course. The poor history professor had been taken by surprise.

"He is trying to convince me to force Will to watch some sort of space-cowboy series" said the young man. "Apparently he is totally a fan of it… And had the entire series in DVD"

"The entire series AND the movie" cut of Collins. "It´s a really good series! Isn´t it Susan?"

Susan Vandom was a lot of things; but not a liar. She didn´t like to lie, and also didn´t like to hide information from others. She did exactly that to her daughter concerning her relationship with Dean several months ago, and that almost demolished their mother-daughter bound. So no more lies, which meant…

Susan looked strangely to Dean. A look that said something like "I don't want to say that the shirt you´re wearing is horrible, but it is" thing. Dean looked down and let a small "Oh…" get out from his mouth. Matt patted him on the back, trying to cheer him.

And Irma busted to laughter. Such an innocent but incontrollable laughter. Susan ended joining her, and even Matt chuckled a little. Collins encaged the laughter with a little smirk in his mouth, accentuated by the movement of his moustache.

"Okay, okay…" Susan managed to say after laughing. "Why…" she cleared a pair of tears from her eyes "Why don´t you go with Matt and the two of you take enough seats for everybody?"

"Agreed…" mouthed Matt, while he and Collins got inside the building and headed to the swimming section.

When the two men disappeared from sight, the older woman asked the younger one, "So… Will told me about this "plan" of yours. How is it going to go?"

"Oh, do not worry. The moment that this ends you and Mr. Collins will say goodbye, and depart. We will catch from there, do not worry Ms. Vandom" answered the young Guardian. "It was Will idea after all. It cannot go wrong"

"Ha! You are speaking as my daughter was some sort of strategic genius, or something"

" _You have no idea_ " thought Irma. During the past few months, everyone has noted how Will´s strategic capabilities had been improved. If it had not been for the snake´s intervention; they could had won that battle against Phobos without transforming into… She stopped thinking. She didn´t want to remember that sensation. The sensation of being there, but no being her; of being just a mass of water. It wasn´t a joyful memory.

"Are you okay, Irma?" asked Miss Vandom, interrupting her thoughts; for good, the young lady noted.

"Uhm? Oh yeah, I´m fine. Just a little lost in my own head. So… where are the others?"

"I don't know." answered the grown woman. "But they should be coming now. The match is about to start"

"Ah, relax Miss Vandom…" said Irma at the same time that an image of a giant snake being completely dehydrated by the kiss of a water nymph flashed through her mind. "Just relax…"

* * *

While the two women waited to the remaining parts of the party, other three young ladies walked in the Sports Centre´s direction. One was a brown woman with dark hair, and wearing a pair of glasses. Dressed in a white T-shirt under an orange jacket and a pair of jeans; also wearing a brown coat, she was named Taranee Cook; current Guardian of Fire.

Accompanying her was a long haired blonde. Of white skin and blue eyes, her name was Cornelia Hale, current Guardian of Earth. Always so feminine, she was dressed in a long skirt, and a purple and white stripped jersey. Above them she wore a light green jacket.

And holding the blond haired Guardian´s hand was a little girl of eight years old, a blonde too. After all they were sisters. This little girl´s name was Lillian Hale, a cute pre-scholar with sort hair and dressed almost every time in pink. Her outfit today was of that color too. A pinky dress, pinky boots, and a pinky coat. She was holding her big sister´s hand tightly. Albeit in the eyes of the normal men this child was just a child; she was in reality the bearer of the Hearth of Earth, although its power was now redistributed between the Three Regents of Earth, the aforementioned Matt Olsen, the dormouse Mr. Juggles, and her own pet cat, Napoleon.

"Cornelia!" she said pulling the hand of the older Hale. "Come on, we are gonna be late!"

"You know, your sister is right." said Taranee. "I exited my house later than you two and I was able to catch with you. I could be there already if I hadn´t decided to accompany you"

"It´s not my fault" retorted Cornelia "This new model of winter boots are killing me!"

"Then maybe you shouldn´t have bought them, or wear them today" said the Fire Guardian.

"Or maybe you just could threw them away!" proposed Lillian.

Cornelia looked at her sister, waiting a mock smile or a commentary. But there was only innocence in her eyes. She really meant to throw the boots away.

"I cannot do that Lillian"

"Why?"

"Because" Cornelia dazed her long blond hair with her free hand "there are too expensive and too beautiful."

Taranee chuckled at this. Cornelia was still Cornelia.

Little Lillian just forgot about her advice and keep pulling Cornelia from her hand. And at the expense of Cornelia´s feet´s well being, they ended reaching Miss Vandom and Irma.

"You are almost late!" shouted to them the Water Guardian. "What did Corny do to make you slower?"

"Wait, why do you assume that it was my fault?" asked Cornelia, offended. "It could have been something completely out of my control!"

"But, big sister, your boots…" started Lillian, just for her to receive a stern look of her sister.

"Ah! So it was you, after all!" mocked Irma, with a smug smile on her face.

"You idiot!" shouted Cornelia, and releasing her little sister´s hand, she jumped straight into an argument with Irma, about fashion, modals, punctuality and, for some reason; what was better between Mexican or Italian food.

While the two teens were arguing, Susan kneeled to look little Lillian directly in the face. "Hello Lillian, you are very pretty dressed today"

"I know!" said the pre-scholar smiling. "Mom chose this one for me! She is the best!"

"Oh, you are just too adorable!" said Susan, tickling the little kid´s cheeks and making her jiggle. These actions made Taranee smile too. She really had a soft spot for kids.

"Well, she is really adorable. I hope that she doesn´t turn into the same as that goofy pair" said the brown girl signaling to Cornelia and Irma.

"Who is a goofy?" asked simultaneously the two teens, looking scorned at Taranee.

"The two gals that are discussing about tacos and pizza" answered the Fire Guardian, adjusting her glasses.

"Well, maybe is that you are not as passionate as we are" retorted Cornelia, whose commentary was reinforced by a "Yeah" from Irma.

"Well, that's the point. Someone has to maintain her head cooled" mocked Taranee, arms folded and eyes crossed.

"Taranee!" again the unison voice of the two other girls. This time Susan and Lillian laughed. Especially Lillian, who, at Taranee´s commentary, had imagined her sister dressed in a Goofy disguise.

Then Taranee felt a little inch in her head, product of her telepathy. Like some sort of clock alarm. Her smile intensified, because it meant that the final part was arrived. "There she is" she though.

* * *

A Chinese teen, her long haired raven hair combed in two braids, a pair of leotards under a skirt; a pullover and a purple jacket as her clothing; was now approaching the group. That was Hay Lin, current Guardian of Air; and granddaughter of the previous one. And so, the actual heir of a sort of family tradition of being the Guardian of Air; that remounts itself to the first woman bearing that power.

Hay Lin had always been what it´s usually called "genki girl". A dreaming girl, always with her head in the clouds, always happy and free-spirited. You could say that this was the form that the universe had to say "This child is destined to be the Air Guardian" and you possibly won´t be wrong.

But today´s Hay Lin was not exactly happy. If you talked with her or ask for help, she surely will help you, or talk to you in a very good natured way that would make you think "What a bright and good child".

But her childish demeanor and her out of earth nature were gone. And if a stranger didn´t notice the difference; her friends sure did. After all, what are friends for? They even know the reason of Hay been down.

Because, even if Hay Lin insisted in downplaying it; everyone knew that the fact that Eric Lindon, her (now) former boyfriend´s departure to another city have left her quite depressed. They even have "broke up" (if what they did could be called break up) quite nicely. But in her friends' eyes, that was precisely the problem. You can´t just end a relationship at that age and settle down that good. Even someone as cheered up as Hay Lin should shout to the skies in anger sometimes. But, instead of doing that, she just fell depressed. That was the reason behind "the plan".

The swimming match? Just the perfect excuse. Everyone would gather to cheer up for Will, she would swim, and winning or not, they would then depart to the Silver Dragon, Hay Lin´s Grandma´s restaurant, and threw a party. And they will try their best to make Hay Lin smile like her used to be again. And make her curse to Eric too. But that last one was just Irma´s idea.

So there she was, finally getting to her friends. Cornelia and Irma were discussing about something stupid, as always. Taranee was just there, maintaining the composure. And there was Miss Vandom and so was Cornelia´s little sister Lillian. They were, playing? She didn´t know.

Taranee bolted, as sensing her presence, and smiled at her. "There you are" said her fellow Guardian. Hay Lin answered with the best smile that she could put. But it was just not her smile.

"Well, I think that there are no ones left to arrive" said Irma, broking her discussion with Cornelia like it was nothing. "So" she put her arm around Hay Lin, "what are we waiting for?"

The group got inside the building and, after a few minutes of seeking, they found Matt and Mr. Collins, who were guarding a bunch of seats and still speaking of the series.

"Oh God, still with that Dean?" asked Miss Vandom, now she holding Lillian's hand.

"Well, you see" it was Matt that answered, trying to avoid the woman´s glare "it actually sounds a little cool"

Dean gave the Susan a look that expressed nothing but "Victory!" and Susan reprised the urge to facepalm herself. She took the seat next to her man and leaved Lillian to go to her sister´s side. "With men like these… we really are mother and daughter, aren´t we Will?" thought Susan. It was really funny for her to admit how much similar were Will and her to each other.

Everyone in their seats, the group waited in the grades for the participants of the match to appear in the pool zone. Lillian got up in her seat to watch better. The she signaled a group of people that started to appear around the pool.

"There she is!" she shouted. And there she was. "Will!"

* * *

In the pool zone, a lot of girls between 14 and 16 years old casted in swimsuits were appearing. Will Vandom was among them. She then heard her name spoken of in a childish voice. She turned and spotted Lillian waving strongly at her. She waved back and then her friends and her parents waved to her, shouting cheers of animosity. She spotted Hay Lin among them and then headed to her starting spot. All according to plan.

Until she saw her competition, that´s it. She looked around and the thought that maybe winning was not so possible. This was not like any other competition. Not even like the past one from October. There were a lot of participants. Some girls younger than her, some girls older. But they meant business.

There were girls from public schools like her, but there were also girls from private schools; and guest from other states that seemed incredible capable. Will could bet that a lot of them had private trainers. But none of that mattered now. The only thing that mattered was the amount of water in front of her and the young ladies at her sides.

So she prepared herself.

Breathe. Relax. Concentrate.

She stretched her back. The signal was close.

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Concentrate. Count to three.

Te sound of a whistle echoed, and then the competitors hit the water.

* * *

Back in the grades, everyone started shouting for Will´s win. She had started pretty good, going ahead of five of her competitors. This only leaved another four between her and the first place.

Everyone was shouting, especially little Lillian. Cornelia had to hold her in order for the kid not to fall from her seat, where she stand proud, cheering for her sister´s friend.

Then something flashed by Lillian´s left side, something that raised herself in her seat just like Lillian and starting shouting with all the power of her lungs.

There was Hay Lin, not the depressed falsely amicable excuse of Hay Lin that hides her pain behind a sere and sad smile; but Hay Lin, airhead, good old Hay Lin.

"Go Will! You can do it!" shouted the young Chinese girl; full of energy. So what if Eric had left the city and her? So what if she had lost her boyfriend? Her friends were here, and one of them was just in one of the biggest moments of her life. She should cheer for her. She had to. She must to.

* * *

Back in the pool, Will had arrived to one of the sides of the water field. She was in fourth place now. In a swimming match (or in any other race type match) a second for the viewer can be a very long period of time for the participant. So, in what for their friends looked just like a moment; Will pushed herself against the wall of the pool, and reuniting all her strength in her body, she swam back to the starting point.

When you swim, you have to use all of your body. If you use just the arms or the legs; you are just stupidly losing energy. When you swim with every part of you, the energy can be distributed equally and even preserved for the final spring. And that is exactly what Will did. Just when she was just in the middle of her way back; she gave her body a "boost". Like some sort of energy burst inside of her. It was not very different to when she used Quintessence.

Will was reserving that amount of energy for this moment. The boost served its purpose; because when she ended; she was now the one holding the third place. She had not won; but she was able to touch podium at least. And everything regrettable about her performance was forgotten when she looked up to the grades and saw Hay Lin smiling at her with a _real_ smile.

* * *

After the award ceremony, which actually wasn´t so spectacular (after all, this was just a _show of_ between schools and other entities), Will was exiting the Sports Center to join her family and friends. But then she was stopped by a girl of her age, who asked for a minute of her attention.

"Hello, Wilhelmina Vandom, yes?" asked the girl, sort brown hair, almond eyes and white skin. And also well endowed, noted Will. She sighed to herself.

"Yeah; and you are?"

"Irene Stone" answered the girl.

"Oh, you are first place" the other teen looked at Will strangely. "Sorry, I tend to refer to the competitors I am not familiar with by using their poll position"

"Oh; well, I am part of a swimming private academia called Nereid that is located in the outskirts of the town (well actually a few kilometers from town) and my actual trainer had seen potential in you. So" the girl gave Will a target "if you are interested, just call and ask for me or for Miss Schneider." And then the girl got away; leaving a Will that felled both awkward and enthusiastic.

* * *

Out in the street, the group, plus Lillian, Susan and Dean were waiting for Will. When she appeared; the first thing that everyone did was hug or congratulate her. Matt reprised the urge to kiss his girlfriend for the fact that her mother was in front of them.

Both Susan and Dean hugged the girl. Irma patted her back, while Taranee opted for a hive five. The little Hale sister hugged her with the help of the big one. And Hay Lin gave her one of the tightest hugs of her life.

Phase one was complete. Now was time for phase two.

Cornelia asked Susan to take Lillian to her home. Susan agreed to make that stop. And then she, Dean and Lillian departed in the woman´s car to the Hale residence; leaving the teenagers alone. When the car had move enough distance, Matt directed himself to Will.

"Now?" asked the young man.

"Now" confirmed the young lady.

And the two of them embraced in a kiss.

* * *

Inside the car, Susan was watching her daughter and the Olsen boy making out using the car´s driving mirror. She chuckled and ridded the car in the Hales´ direction.

"Were they kissing?" asked Dean, while looking down at his mobile phone´s screen. Someone had just emailed him.

"Yeah" answered Susan, still chuckling. "I don´t know if feel flattered or insulted by the fact that they waited for us to go to start doing that. I mean, it´s not that I have something against that relationship."

"Maybe it´s just that they feel a little embarrassed making out in front of a pair of adults, one of them her mother"

"Oh, and making out in front of their friends and a bunch of other of people is totally okay?"

"Susan, they are teenagers. How did you behave when you were a teenager?"

Susan felt silent. Dean looked at her and she just looked directly at the road. "I´m not going to answer that"

"Well, now I have to know." Dean mocked. "What do you think Lillian?" asked Dean to the child.

"Are Will and Matt gonna be a mom and dad?"

Dean was speechless. He wasn´t expecting that. Susan just kept looking to the road.

"No."

"But Mom and Dad kiss each other all the time" said Lillian.

"No. Just… no" said Susan in a dry tone.

Dean laughed then, while Susan was just there, her face frozen, and Lillian was not conscious of what she had implied.

The car took a curve, and the unusual trio directed themselves to their goal.

* * *

Back with our heroines, the group was now heading to the Silver Dragon. When they were far enough from the mass of people, Hay Lin made a halt.

The others looked strangely at their friend. Maybe the phase one of the plan didn't work out as expected? Well it actually did.

Hay Lin raised a current of air and tied her friends all together, making them levitate a little from the ground. Then she launched herself at t e groupand gave them something that only can be described as an air-hug.

"Thank you!" said Hay Lin.

"Eh… For what exactly?" asked Taranee, a little disoriented.

Hay Lin looked at her friends with an amused grin. "The fact that I´m an airhead doesn´t mean that I am stupid"

"Oh" said Irma "well" and finished Cornelia.

Matt looked at his girlfriend. "Busted" he teased.

And Will just looked at her friend, who was smiling just as she always did. The redhead sighed. "Well, okay, this was my idea. You looked down since that Eric boy left just when you two had starting dating, so…"

"So you came out with a plan to cheer me up", said Hay Lin, the air-hug still maintaining her friends and Matt.

"Basically" answered Taranee to that. "If you are bothered that we did that, then…"

"I think that you are missing the point that I thanked you" said Hay Lin and freed the rest of the group from her elemental grip. "And I will say it again. Thank you; really, I… needed this kind of thing."

"You are welcome" said Will.

The group started to walk the street again. "Oh, and also; Screw Eric!" was Hay Lin´s final statement. Irma looked at the girl with proud eyes and then she put her arm around the Air Guardian like she did before entering the Sports Centre and started to walk alongside her; Will, Matt and Taranee behind the two of them.

"Well, that´s quite the development. Isn´t it Corny? Corny?" Irma looked around but didn´t spot Cornelia. Until she looked back and saw Cornelia trailing behind them.

"Corny! Get faster or we will leave you behind!"

"My poor feet!" was Cornelia´s only response, which was followed for another laugh from her friends.

* * *

Unbeknown to them, someone was watching all the conversation. Someone who wasn´t in the streets, but in one of the higher apartments of one of the buildings that were at the side of the road.

It was a man, with a telescoped camera, photographing and recording videos of the group. When he began to gather information, he had thought that Matt Olsen was just a nuisance, but he seemed more sunk into the case than what an initial sight could prove.

He saved the photos and the videos in a laptop at his side; putting them with all the rest of the information gathered in the past weeks. Names, family records, movement routines, school grades, medical history… not only of the girls, but also of their close family and friends. Especial attention went to the Brown family; completely erased from existence in the past year. Apparently, an Interpol investigation had been put in march for the group of the girls; but it was left aside when Miss Brown reappeared.

But the cherry on the top of the cake were the archives of the girls using their powers in the most common of things; like using electric power to turn down the lights of the school, or make the garden flowers grow magically.

"Chist, chist" said the man to himself "too careless of you." He then pull out a phone from his pocket and, adjusting his glasses, used it to make a call.

The ring tone sounded a couple of times before someone picked up. "Yes?'" sounded a male voice in the other side. "Is it you, Raphael?"

"Yes, sir" answered the man. "I have gathered all of the information that you asked for; I´m sending it to you right now. Do you want to me to continue as established or may I lay low for the moment?"

"No, Raphael, you can continue with the final stage of Phase I. I want to record the full capability of those… things´ powers. Use the prototype that I left in the city for it"

"The MK I, sir?"

"Yes that one. Why do you insist in calling it that?"

"I think it sounds good with it"

"…" was the only response of the interlocutor.

"Sir?"

"Whatever… Look, I want you to finish Phase I for when I arrive again in the city this Christmas"

"Understood, sir. When you arrive in Christmas, do you want for me to take you at the airport?"

"It would not be necessary; the other two will ride me to the base"

"Oh, so the complete troupe is going to be at the city at the same time. Well, fair enough, I am a little tired of being alone"

"Ha! THAT one was fun"

"No sir, I mean it. I maybe bought you all Christmas presents. Well, in the case of the good lady and the Doctor, Hanukah presents…"

"I am going to cut the call now, Raphael" and the conversation ended.

"Ñeh, always so serious. It wouldn´t hurt to smile sometimes, sir" said the man while putting the phone again in the pocket. "Or having a friend to talk to." He then looked at the photograph that showed the group of teenagers, all of them happy and laughing in the street. "It seems to work for them" concluded Raphael Sylva; retired soldier, mercenary to the bidder that he decided better; and currently teacher of informatics in the Sheffield Institute.

 _What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies._ Aristotle

* * *

 **Author notes:**

 **And that was the first chapter. Man… So many hugs. And smiles. And Lillian being cute… I actually feel like I am getting diabetes.**

 **Well, that was the intention. That´s why the chapter is called Good and caring people. I wanted to show how the girls had matured after the events of season 2 and how their bond is now stronger than ever.**

 **Will is now a very competent strategist that is capable of putting those qualities to the service of helping a friend. And the others would agree because they see her as a competent and caring leader. Also, she now has a loving boyfriend and her new family seems to be getting more and more functional.**

 **Taranee is more mind calmed than ever, which united with her smartness and new found security, creates a very relievable and courageous person.**

 **And Cornelia, albeit still a fashion obsessive (I hope that you all found the boot joke and her "duel" with Irma funny) she is now a caring and responsible big sister. Her relationship with Caleb, and how good is she going to be for him will be explored in future chapters; when they interact.**

 **In my opinion, Irma and Hay Lin were the ones that get out of the second season less developed than the rest. So I am going to develop them in my own in this fic. Irma is still her sarcastic self, but it is the one that had ended more traumatized from the "elemental mode" thing that went in Z is for Zenith. I will touch this theme in the future.**

 **And Hay Lin has broke up with her boyfriend, Eric Lyndon, who we met in the second season and in the comics (actually he getting out of town happened in the comics, I took the idea from here), and the center of this first chapter was the objective of make her feel better. Because what are friends for? And if you think that she has recovered pretty quickly, do not worry; I am going to deepen in it in the future.**

 **Also, we get a look into Raphael Sylva, the starter villain of this fic; who is just gathering information about the girls until his boss arrives in town. While his boss has his own lieutenants, you could say that Sylva is a mercenary that is playing the role of "boy for everything". Also, if there is any doubt, yes the primal bad guys of the first half of the story are going to be completely human and yes, they are completely aware of the girls' existence and of their powers.**

 **Also, I want to play Sylva as a dangerous and professional mercenary, but that takes his job with a smile on his face and a pretty good demeanor and professional relationship with his employers.**

 **So, next chapter (hope that I update before starting with some things that I have to do and that will keep me away from writing) will be focusing in Meridian; and will be called People in Cages. Why? Well, I am going to focus in the antagonists of the previous seasons for a part of the chapter, and they are in cages. But I will also focus on Elyon, Caleb, some of the members of the former rebellion, Raythor… and some OC that I planned to add. And believe me, them, especially Elyon and Caleb, are going to start this story caged.**

 **Until next chapter then. Have a pleasant day and night.**


	2. Chapter 2: People in cages

**Disclaimer: I don´t own WITCH. Its characters are property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **So, here is the second chapter; People in cages. This ne is going to be focused in Meridian and its principal inhabitants; both heroes and antagonists of previous seasons. Enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter 2: People in cages

 ** _The world of Meridian (Metamoor)_**

The world of Meridian; house of the Galhot, the Shapeshipter, the Lurden, and the human. Ruled by the heralds of the Hearth of Meridian, the Queens of the Escanor bloodline.

This world had suffered a lot recently. The death of one the best queens that it had ever have; a tyranny by the hand of an egotistic psychopathic brat; the kidnap of its current queen and the steal of its Hearth away from it by the hand of a sorceress; the re-establishment of the tyranny; and it goes on.

And now, it seems that this world can finally achieve peace. Its corrupters and monsters are locked up. Nothing more than tiny people in cages; condemned staying in a shadowy cell.

This is the destiny of Prince Phobos Escanor; the traitorous man that gave away his family just because he thought of himself better to rule than the rest. Which in the end; didn´t prove true at all.

Now he and his minions pass their days in the magical cells of the Infinite City. One of those minions is called Frost, nicknamed The Hunter, a former bounty-hunter that made himself some sort of "regular employee" to the crown when the Prince stole the throne.

Though more muscle than brains, everyone knew that Frost was a very competent hunter. The only thing that kept him out of the top of the Prince´s enforcers in the eyes of the former rebellion was that, albeit competent in his job; the moment that you have to compete against a being simply called The Tracker (and his nightmarish dog) you can only hope to be second best. Within the court with Tracker, in the Knights of Vengeance with Raythor… always at the shadow of other men. Hell, even when Cedric betrayed the prince he had hoped for being a trusted ally for the snake. But he looked to that spider girl better, even giving her a fragment of all the power that he had stolen. The fact that they seemed to be in love with each other seemed to have helped to Cedric´s decision. This actually agitated Frost´s mind. He knew that shapeshipters could live centuries, but he also knew that they reached an adult form before their time stopped. This meant that Miranda was still a fourteen years old child. And that Cedric could be incredibly older than her. The fact that they seemed to actually care for each other only reassured the bounty-hunter´s thoughts on them. "They are perverts."

At least, thought Frost, that undead was now gone for good. Frost never liked the Tracker. For some reason, the bounty-hunter seemed quite wary of a being that only worked for its masters because they gave him permission to "hunt". Frost also found ironic that Tracker, an undead, was one of the few that never returned from their attack on Kandrakar.

Maybe he had been too greedy at the moment to submit himself to the prince. The Hunter leaned himself against his rhinoceros-like pet Crimsom. He thought about the times when he was just an inexperienced bounty-hunter, alone with his animal companion in the wild, hunting thieves, killers… Those were good times.

He closed his eyes and wondered to himself. "Was the undead just like me in the beginning?"

* * *

In another one of the cells, this one quite bigger, two individuals were talking to each other. They were two members of the Shapeshipter race. Their names, Cedric and Miranda. One a Beast type shapeshipter that could change into the form of a man; the other one a Human type shapeshipter that could change into a four legged, black furred and giant spider-like creature.

And they were having, in the terms of a normal person, "couple conversations".

"Why didn´t you destroy the Aurameres?" asked Cedric, currently in his snake form. His tail was waving calm and quietly.

"Well" answered Miranda, in her human form "why didn´t you kill the Guardians when they were still human?"

"Conquering Earth was the priority. Also I thought that an empowered giant version of you could manage destroying a bunch of jewels. But no, you got defeated by a bunch of walking sand."

"Oh yes, _conquering_ Earth" mocked Miranda. "If for conquering you mean seer destruction of a bunch of constructs. And also, Sandpit is quite strong. I bet that even you could be defeated by him the way you are now"

The two of them felt silent. They had have this same conversation countless times. The two of them had decided that it was useless to be angry to each other after something that now was irremediable. Cedric embraced Miranda from behind, and made her sit into a seat made by his tail. The little girl leaned against the giant snake´s abdomen. "I miss being big. Just when I thought that finally life was paying back all that it took from me, I got punched in the face by a pile of sand"

"Ah, do not worry about being big. The moment that your maturation comes to an end your beast form will be very similar to what you were while empowered" Cedric consoled her.

"You think?" asked Miranda, still in the same position.

"Yes. And do not worry about being here, either" said Cedric, assuming his humanoid form, still embracing Miranda. "I can witness that we will be free"

"How can you tell?" asked Miranda, which now was rotating her body to face her beloved. Blue eyes against blue eyes.

"Who knows?" retorted Cedric, who was now leaning his back against the floor of the cell, making the still embraced Miranda lay on top of him, like using his body as a bed. "Maybe I can smell it in the air. Maybe is my animal intuition. Or maybe" said Cedric while making a few magical sparks with his hand and moving it in the back of Miranda, making her shiver "It´s my compensation prize, telling me to wait patiently"

The two of them kissed. Cedric transformed his tongue inside Miranda´s mouth. She loved him when he did that. When they broke the kiss Miranda asked "And then, what?"

"Then" said the snake man with his trademark smug grin in his face, "we will kill them all." And the two monstrous lovers kissed again.

* * *

In another cell, this one small, even smaller than Frost´s; was another prisoner. This one was quite important, and maintaining him in that imprisoned state was top priority for the guards.

After all, this one was the now two times deposed tyrant, Phobos Escanor, former Prince of Meridian. The vigilance upon him was now doubled, and it was quite obvious that the guards and chiefs on the duty of taking care of the prisoners were much more wary of him that of everyone else. After all, even deposed and caged, the Prince had proved quite resourceful in the past. Even if he was a wimp in comparison with his sister, Elyon Escanor, current Queen and bearer of the Hearth of Meridian; he was still a man of magic. Or so believed his custodies.

In truth, Phobos Escanor was now weak. His physical condition was at its worse. After all, he was almost digested after all the time that he spent inside Cedric´s stomach. The " _diet_ " that was provided by prison food was not helping in the recovery. But the worst part of all was that Phobos had not power left in him.

In his past imprisonments, even without the power of her sister… No! Even without his rightful power, he still felt magic inside him; a power that he could increase using his own natural and unique ability, the power of siphoning energy from other magic constructs or biological life.

But now he felt nothing, nothing at all. His power was gone. All his magic abilities were disappeared. And he knew where they have gone. He had seen Cedric looking at him smugly over the initial weeks after their re-imprisonment. And one day he had made magic with his hand. Just a little sparkle, enough for the guards to not notice, but also enough for humiliate the Prince. Even in defeat like him, Cedric had fall in a higher place than him. And Cedric knew that the prince wouldn´t say anything to the guards because that would imply a bigger wound in his already demolished pride.

He wondered if that had been his sister´s idea. He was now in the most low of the magical cages of the prison, alone and bad illuminated. Even Frost, the Lurdens and Tracker´s _dog_ were in better cells than him. And Cedric was high, and with Miranda partaking his place.

Was that, to put him with his lover, some sort of gratitude from Elyon to Cedric, for doing to him what she couldn´t? Phobos didn´t know. The only thing that he knew was that he was alone in a messy cell. And that the only thing that he had left was his pride.

So he grabbed to that pride. To the pride of being still a royal, something that none of his enemies will ever be. To the pride of have ruled Meridian for more than a decade, something that not even his sister could still say.

Of being the first male Escanor wielding the Hearth of Meridian!

But still, with all of that pride, the fallen and pathetic prince hid himself in the shadows of his cell, only protected by his now ragged royal robes. Now, he was nothing, nothing at all.

And sometimes, some guards could swear that a few sobs came out of those shadows.

* * *

Far away from that prison, up and outside the Infinite City, stood the capital of Meridian. A quite large and beautiful village; and crowning it, was the royal castle. And from that castle, the current Queen, Elyon Escanor, governed Meridian, like many before her.

Elyon was now attending a meeting. Some of the architects and the engineers of the kingdom were now talking with her about the reconstruction of some of the villages that her brother and Nerissa had destroyed while using her Hearth. Even if she was almost a god in Meridian, she couldn´t go around and around, using her powers to patch down some buildings. People will become dependable. The architects and engineers were providing with construction plans, asking for financing, showing her the prospects of the built…

Not long ago, Elyon could have dispatched these responsibilities to one of the ministers, or one of the chiefs of the former rebellion. She could have fallen asleep in one of her meetings with a member of the court, always dreaming of being a princess in a fairy tale. But now she knew best. And she really had been an idiot to not know better sooner than now.

What had been necessary to awake the princess and transforming her into a proper Queen? Almost nothing! Just being stripped of her power twice (one of them by her own brother); be trapped inside a jewel alone for months without eating, sleeping or the need or force to cry; and be deceived for almost anyone that had been around her.

So now the Queen took her duties seriously in order for that not to happen again; with quite actually a success. The people of Meridian trusted and loved her and the court appreciated her upgrade in what concerned to regal duties; but not anyone seemed like that. There were some village chiefs that looked a little down in the Queen, like waiting that she would make another mistake. Not with mischief or bad intentions; but with sorrow and worry for their world.

And then, of course, there were her parents. Not her birthparents, which were death by the time she was just a baby, but her adoptive parents Miridiael and Alborn; also known as Elanor and Thomas Brown in their time of Earth.

They were worried. Behind the calm demeanor and the better Queen that everyone else saw; they just watched a colder and more distant version of their daughter. Her new maid, Irvine, was made to walk three steps behind the young ruler; and Elyon almost never talked to her aside from instructions and vain commentaries.

While Meridian had now the Queen that it deserved in the form of Elyon Escanor; Elyon Brown was disappearing little by little; every moment that passed her hearth a little bit more caged into cold stone and iron. One day, Miridiael approached Elyon alone, when she was into her private chambers, reading a bunch of papers that Caleb had left there for her to inspection.

"Hello sweetie", presented herself Miridiael.

Elyon seemed a little surprised for being called that. But she didn´t exhibit it in all the capability that she could have.

"Hello _mom_ " the last word sounded a little forced. "What do you want?" the Queen raised from her seat; putting aside a list of names and a map of the country with some sort of design on it.

"What is that?" asked Miridiael, looking at the map and the list.

"Ah, some sort of design map of the engineers to made a bunch of connection roads for the most important cities of the country; and a list with names to form a "elite squad" that Caleb gave me; for my approval. Do you now that Raythor is in it? I never thought that Caleb of all people could see the old captain´s potential, but I suppose that after all those times fighting him, he must have ended with a very good idea of what Raythor is capable of. So, I am going to give thumbs up to him. We need an elite squad to deal with nuisances without being to resort to the Guardians almost daily."

"The Guardians are your friends" remarked the meridianite. She didn´t like the way that the conversation was taking.

"Yes; but they are the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions. Not of Meridian. I would like not to have to wave my hand to Kandrakar like a damsel in distress every time that we have a problem. This is our world, not theirs. I should take care."

"We" said Miridiael.

"Excuse me?" asked the Queen.

" _We_ should take care. You said I; but we are part of this world too. We are as responsible as you are. You can trust your people."

Elyon made a strange face at the sound of the last sentence. Then she smiled and, putting her hands in front of her mouth, tried not to laugh.

"What is so funny?" asked concerned Miridiael. Every moment that passed she was more and more worried about Elyon. She was acting in a way that she never saw before.

"No, I can´t!" said Elyon, finally able to contain her laughter. "Every time that I have trusted someone, that I have become friends with anyone without thinking; I ended betrayed!"

"If this is for what happened with Trill and Phobos…"

"There was no Trill" remarked the Queen, in a dry tone, almost word by word the same sentence that Nerissa told them when she revealed herself.

"Well, if this is for what happened with Nerissa and Phobos; it is not your fault. They lied to you, deceived you. It is their fault that our world suffered, not yours. It is normal to feel anger at them, but there is no reason to start to distrust every person around you!" said Miridiael, trying to make her daughter out of her new cold self.

Elyon made the same face than before, trying again not to laugh into her mother´s face. "It´s not only for Nerissa and _brother_ " Miridiael was surprised to hear that. Elyon never referred to Phobos as _brother_ since he revealed himself to be the monster that he is. "It´s also for Miranda, for Cedric, even Cornelia and the others. Even father and _you_ " that last word had venom in it. "Everyone backstabbing everyone, lying, hiding information. Trying to justify themselves saying that they are doing something great. That is reality. And it was my fault for being and idiot."

"You are not an idiot…" almost whispered the Queen´s adoptive mother. She was losing strength every moment that her daughter spoke.

"No, I am not. Not now. That is the reason that I´m actually thankful to all them."

"You are what?" again, almost a whisper.

This time, a wide smile appeared into Elyon´s face, while she started walking without direction inside the room. "Yes, I am thankful. To Nerissa, to Cedric, to Miranda and even to my brother. Their… nature, if you wish to call it that; it actually helped me to become a better ruler. That is the reason that, in the end, I cannot be angry to them for what they did to me. Could you be angry at a lion that takes advantage of a prey that doesn´t see it coming while peacefully laying in the savanna? I have learned more about how the life of royalty works from them that from any other. That is the reason that I allowed Caleb and Julian to keep that jewel instead of crushing it. That is the reason why brother and the shapeshipters are allowed to be alive; yes, in prison, but alive; instead of having their bodies hanging out of their throats like many of the citizens and the ministers want." Elyon made a pause and looked at the ceiling, her back facing her adoptive mother.

"Thanks to them all, now I can see a deception or scheme kilometers in the distance; because now I know how deception and scheming works. If anyone wants to play with my mind again, they will not succeed. No more lies, only the truth. And don´t think that I am going to become a paranoid. That would be ridiculous. I know quite well that there are thousands of people in this world that are loyal to me. The former rebels, Caleb and the village chiefs, Raythor after his realization that I am better than big brother… But that is loyalty. Not trust. Now I can count the people that I trust with the fingers of one hand. And it is better that way. Loyalty leads to strong and united entities; trust only to suffering and deception."

Miridiael played her last card now. It was her only hope to reach to her daughter. She has to be inside there, somehow "Your mother trusted people".

It didn´t work.

Elyon turned around and faced her adoptive mother "My mother is _dead._ Probably because of that way of thinking"

That defeated completely Miridiael. She felt how her spirit was shattering like glass that you smash against the pavement. Elyon put her hands in the shoulders of the older woman. The Queen was cold. They looked to each other and Miridiael felt herself to be small, incredibly small, almost like a bug in comparison with Elyon, her baby, who now appeared like some sort of god-like statue in front of her. The god-like statue was smiling.

"We have to work hard, in order to make this world prosper; in order to take steps to the future and progress ourselves. I want this world to experiment the same evolution that I have experimented. I want the people to be safe and happy, to them to be as strong as I am now. But for that they need something to believe in. And I want to be that, I must. Not like some sort of prophecy about a child destined to depose her evil brother or the Light of Meridian. I want to be Elyon Escanor, the Queen that this world deserves. And I need all of you to work alongside me to be that. Do you understand?"

"Yes" was the only response of Miridiael.

"Good" said Elyon, breaking the physical connection with her adoptive mother and returning to her desk. "Is something more troubling you?"

"No"

"Well then, you may leave. I have a lot more of work to do and I know that you have your own responsibilities, as one of the captains of the Guard."

Miridiael opened the door of the Queen´s chambers and, just before she left, she directed herself to the girl that had played with tiny "Sailor Moon" dolls while sitting on her lap not so many years ago. "Have a nice day, my Queen."

"You too; _Captain Miridiael_ "

And the door closed behind the woman, leaving the Queen alone.

* * *

Back in their private chambers, Alborn, husband of Miridiael and adoptive father of Elyon, was waiting for his wife to return. They had agreed that Miridiael should go alone to their daughter. She was the closest one of the two to Elyon. That didn´t mean that he didn´t care for his daughter. It was just that he didn´t know how to approach her like Miridiael did.

Then the door of the chambers was opened, and Miridiael entered the room. Alborn said nothing. Miridiael just stood there, silent.

"So, how was it?" asked Alborn, to receive no response. "Miridiael?" asked the man again.

His wife only looked at him. And that was when Alborn saw that her eyes were almost lifeless.

"Miridiael, what happened?"

"I have work to do…" said the woman, and tried to leave, but Alborn stopped her in her tracks and made her look at him. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"Miridiael! What the hell happened?!"

Miridiael´s eyes then became alive again; but it wasn´t with life but with the most painful of suffering instead.

And Miridiael screamed, screamed like someone had just impaled her stomach with a sword. She screamed and screamed, until she almost lost her voice. And Alborn just looked at her, not knowing what exactly to do, not knowing what was going on. The only thing the he could do was hold the love of his life tight to him, trying to contain her screams.

"What the hell happened?" this time, the question was directed to himself.

* * *

Outside the castle, more precisely at its foot; there were some barracks for the City Guards and soldiers for the purpose of training. At that moment of the day, a young man was training his swordsmanship alongside his father. The name of the young man was Caleb, leader of the former rebellion, now one of the high commanders of Meridian´s militia; and the Queen´s own right hand man. Also, he was the lover of the Current Earth Guardian.

Crossing swords with him was a bearded man that resembled him. This one was Julian, father of the young man; a village chief that, during the times of the tyranny, had spent most of his days working as a slave in the underwater mines property of the Prince. Also, years before that, the universe liked to play a cruel joke on him, by having he falling in love with a good natured and caring woman; who resulted not to be that woman at all.

Both of the men had tried to appeal to the woman´s hearth when they discovered the truth of their relationship, but it was no use. Even if she wasn´t willing to accept it; Nerissa´s only real love was power and control.

But the aftermath of the conflict had helped to strengthen the bond between father and son. Also, it made Caleb a little bit more mature. Long ago he liked to think that everything had an easy answer. You choose black or white, evil or good. Upon seeing her mother and the fact that, albeit her means were cruel, her final objective was noble; Caleb had began to think. Maybe people who did wrong didn´t have a choice after all? Was people driven to villainy or born with it? Or was it just that he didn´t want to think about her mother as a monster? What she had told him back when they met at Mount Thanos had left a mark in him. Were they really not so different? After all, he still remembered Sonder Hill. Was that for good or not?

His thoughts were banished when his father was able to disarm him of his sword, and push Caleb to the ground. "You are death" said Julian while pointing the weapon to Caleb´s chest. Noticing his son had his mind in other places, Julian lowed the sword.

"Are you feeling good? You seem quite deconcentrated."

Caleb looked at his father. His caring father, who had raised him alone. But, even so, he was not willing to share his thoughts with him there, alongside a multitude of soldiers, Place Guards and former rebels that were training just like him.

"Nah, mind in deep places" said Caleb.

His father, being his father, took notice of it and, after helping his son stand up; marched with him across the streets of the village. They stopped by a tavern and shared a couple of glasses of beer in a table that was in a corner. When they were for the third one, it was time for the father to speak.

"So, tell me, how is that "elite" thing going?"

"Good. I have the names given to the Queen. Just waiting for her approval, but that´s the easy part. Making the parts work with each other will be more difficult. Especially with Raythor in it.

"You put Raythor in it? I will admit that he is good with the Guards because he was one of their commanders in the past, and a pretty good one I must add; but are you sure of putting him in a team alongside people like Vathek? They tried to kill each other."

"Well, Raythor and I tried to kill each other a lot in the past months and during the times of the rebellion and that is precisely what has leaded me to put him in. His experience and strength will be good for the team. And he will do whatever the Queen says him to do. If there is a trait that never changes in him whatever the side he is in is his loyalty and nobility."

"Yeah, that loyalty part is what worries me the most."

"Why do you say that?"

"Haven´t you noticed that the Queen is acting a little bit strange lately?"

"Ah… I will speak plainly. Yes, she seems a lot different. The ministers are delighted with her new self, and I will admit that she now shows the demeanor and way of thinking of a proper Queen, but…"

"But she seems cold" ended Julian

"Some of the Guards and the majority of the service that interacts with her have started to call her Iron Queen, father. I don´t know how to feel about it. She is much more competent know, and I am grateful for that; but she seemed much more alive before…

"Before your mother put her on jewel?" ended again the father.

"Yes. I don´t want to feel prideful about her majesty´s development knowing that the reason behind it was mother´s… plans. Especially considering that she is…"

"A friend of the woman that you love?" ended Julian for the third time.

"Could you stop finishing my sentences?"

"No. As your father, it is my duty to know how the inside of your skull works. And, also, if you are so worried about her majesty, why don´t you talk with Cornelia about it? You are going to see her soon, aren´t you?"

"Yes, in Christmas"

"In what?"

"An Earth celebration day. Much like we celebrate the solstices. It´s apparently a ceremony in honor of the family and charity. Matt informed me that the tradition is to gave a present to the people you care about. I am going to give one to Cornelia this year"

"Really? Sounds quite charming. But speak with her. If they are so good friends, Cornelia will now better than us what troubles the Queen´s hearth".

"You know, hearing you speak like that makes me think why don´t you leave the militia and become a chief of a village or an advisor in the court. You are pretty smart, old man."

"No, that life is not for me; too much complications and mannerism. I like the life of the ordinary man precisely for its simplicity. You have a house, a son, a job to take responsibility for. I wouldn´t change it for anything else. Even for a comfortable life, sitting in a seat of the court. Hell, do you imagine someone like me in the court? I would probably offense someone because I didn't bow in the specific way to some ambassador!"

The two men laughed, and excited the tavern after paying. Then Caleb made a risky move.

"About that Christmas thing… Do you want to come along with me to Earth?"

"Excuse you?" asked Julian a little astonished by his son´s invitation.

"To that Earth celebration, you could come with me. I think that Cornelia´s family is going to be in a party in Lady Yan Lin´s restaurant. It would be good for you all to meet."

"Are you… arranging a meeting between them and me? Are you going to propose to Cornelia?" asked Julian.

"What?! No! I just think that it will be a good idea!" Caleb made a pause. "Also, Lady Yan Lin and Lady Cassidy are going to attend, and I think that it would be a good idea if we have the opportunity to talk to them about mother"

"Is that what was troubling your mind earlier?" this time Julian sounded concerned.

"Yes. I just remembered when we met her at Mount Thanos and what you said to her. For a moment, she looked so…"

"Sad and vulnerable? Son, let me explain you something about the thing that we call "evil". Evil does not exist. Deep down, it is only pain. Only real monstrosities delight themselves in destruction, control and abuse; but for the majority of the people evil is a form to cover your weaknesses; like an armor made of excuses in which you bury your soul. I am not excusing what she did; but I think that it would be a good idea to comprehend her. That being said, I think that I will accompany you to Earth. It will be good to speak about Nerissa with someone who knew her before us."

"Thank you father" said Caleb. And the two men walked again the streets of the village, but separating their ways. After all Caleb was still a captain of the militia and had duties to attain with his men. Apparently the Queen was going to move herself to a city away from the capital between today night and tomorrow; to attend the inauguration of a new building in the city of the miners.

So Julian headed to his house and upon reaching and entering it, he headed to his dormitory. It was rater plain, just like his son´s. Just a bed, a little desk and a closet for his robes. The house could have used a little of a feminine touch. Julian searched under the bed and pulled out an ornamented black wood box of. He opened it and, while sitting in his bed, let it lean in his lap.

Inside the box, there was a jewel of an aquamarine tone. Julian stared at it oddly. That was the very jewel that his "wife", for the lack of a better term, had used in order to steal the power of the Hearth of Meridian and kidnap the Queen. And now, in the words of the sages of Kandrakar, it was her prison. For how much time? He didn´t known. He thought that even Kandrakar or the oracle himself didn´t known.

"Hey, you" he said to the jewel, not knowing if his words could reach the inside. "The boy is… troubled, a little, because of you. I talk to him and we are going to speak with your… former companions in order to know more about you." Julian made a pause. "Did you really loved me, or was it just part of your plans? I know that I loved you, if what I loved was the real you; and no the impersonation of the Mage that you were making." Another pause was made by the middle aged man. Julian took the jewel from inside the box and held it in such a manner that it was facing his face.

"You know, it´s not easy to raise a son by yourself in a world like this. I don´t think that it could be easy in any other world, although. There were moments that made me think that you just didn´t care, albeit I knew that you were busy with the duties of the Mage. But when I got freed by our son and he told me how you aided the rebellion, how you encouraged and supported him; I thought… I believed that you were caring about him. That you really loved me." Julian put the jewel in his bed´s pillow and he himself laid in it.

"Then I discovered who you really are and the fact that you thought about Caleb like a "Product for being the Rebel leader"; and I hated you with every bit of my soul. And I still hate you, woman. You used me" Julian said this not with rage in his voice, though his eyes flared, looking at the ceiling. "You used him, and still, I know that those emotions and caring that you showed in that mountain were real. I tried to talk to you. I tried to understand you, and to make you understand. But I will never be able to forgive you. Even for the boy´s sake. I will speak with your former friends. Maybe they can tell me if what you showed for me was real or not…And maybe I will be able to understand you better."

He took the jewel and, putting it back in the box, he put it again under his bed. "Have pleasant dreams Nerissa. I wonder if I would be able to meet the real you someday"

* * *

Albeit with the best of the intentions, Julian´s speech didn´t reach the interiors of the jewel. Inside it, a happy world built in dreams was being played, like some sort of twisted theater play. Its protagonist was Nerissa Crossnic, former Keeper of the Hearth of Kandrakar; and a traitor in the eyes of so many people that it would be pointless to name them here.

But in her eyes she had been a victim; and now, she was a hero. A hero of a fake universe now united in peace thanks to her efforts. And, of course, she had been rewarded by it. Crowned leader of the universe; her old companions by her side and having finally accepted the reason of her actions, and of course, a supporting husband and a caring son ruling by her side.

Today, her son was suit in regal robes, a beautiful, blond haired woman dressed in a white dress standing before him, the two of them in an altar, prepared to being married, by the hands of her friend Yan Lin, no less.

Her husband at her right and Cassidy at her left; Nerissa watched how her son Caleb married Cornelia Hale, the love of his life.

"So, how are your grandchildren going to be named?" asked her the dream Cassidy.

"Oh, I think that it is a little soon to be thinking about grandchildren, lady Chacon" said the dream Julian. "Don´t you agree, my dear?" referred to his wife the man.

Nerissa said nothing, her senses completely concentrated in the couple delivering their first kiss as matrimony. When the kiss ended, she was the first one to stand up and clap her hands to wish them the best.

"You know, is incredible how you founded the correct way to turn the girls back to human. It´s miraculous" continued Cassidy. "Almost God-like"

Nerissa continued to watch her son and her new daughter-in-law. They looked back at her and smiled. It was their way of thanking her for what she had done. But of course, she was the source of all the happiness; so it was normal for everyone to thank and love her back. That was truth. So, the imprisoned woman who didn´t know about the beautiful cage around her just smiled back to her new and imaginary family; and let the happiness to posses her.

"I know" was her only response to her imaginary friend.

* * *

Far from the capital, and from almost any meridianite village, deep in a dark forest; at the feet of an ugly, dry and distorted black tree; laid a sword.

The hilt of the murder tool was shaped as a branch of the same tree on which's feet rested. The blade of the sword was of a wary mixture of dark-green and some black. It looked like there were faces inside that blade, contorting and screaming.

The sword had been there for so long, that no one knew of its existence. And even if someone knew, they would never found the place of its rest. Only the chose could access to that forest, and that tree. And the sword had been waiting, until its master´s return and appointment into a new mission. Today, that waiting was coming to an end.

From under the roots of the tree, came a whimpering sound. And then, a hand exited from the very same roots. Then a head, a body and a pair of legs and feet. The humanoid being then rose to its feet, as long as it was.

There was, in all his glory, the Tracker of Meridian, with his rotten green akin, his lean body and nightmarish face with two bright red eyes and exposed teeth. He lacked his trademark hat; actually, he lacked any clothing at all. The lack of clothing always happened.

He looked at his hand. "Alive again" he said to nobody in particular with his raspy voice. It was always the same. Eternal returning, was that how it was called? It didn´t matter how many times he died. He always returned, always the same way, always in the same place. The same tree where he had died for the first time. This time´s dead had been fun. Ripped from the inside, quite entertaining, and innovative, he must add.

What was the name of the man hat had killed him this time? Dracorn, Blake, Drake? It didn´t matter, but if he encountered that boy again he was going to kill him.

And the sword was still there, no one able to pull it out but him. He would like to wield that sword again and hunt with it. But it was not the time. So he started to walk. He would have to find new clothes and a new weapon. And a new hat. He liked his hat.

" ** _No, Eternal Hunter, not this time._** " said then a collective voice that was carried by the wind that passed between the branches of the tree.

Tracker recognized it. He then fell to his knees, palms and forehead down in the ground. It was them! This only could mean…

" ** _Yes, Eternal Hunter, the time has come. Pull out the sword from the dirt. Wield it again to hunt again, like you did in the old days_** " said the voice, almost like it was coming from the sword now. The Tracker obeyed, and rising again, he put his right hand in the weapon´s hilt. The sword recognized its master and shivered at the contact. Then the undead tightened the grip and pulled the sword from the ground.

The weapon´s blade exploded in a storm of green and black flames; and the faces inside it started screaming in agony, each one of them burning. The fire engulfed Tracker and when it dispersed, he was dressed in his usual hunter attire, hat included.

Images flashed in the undead creature´s mind. It was a location, a mission, an objective. A prey.

He smiled. He would be able to regain his hound. "But," the undead questioned "what about the Light Queen? And the defenses?"

" ** _Do not worry, Eternal Hunter. We shall provide. Also, she is called Iron Queen these days_**."

The Tracker smiled to himself, for the first time in ages, when a new set of images flashed through his mind, these ones containing information about the many people of Meridian, including the Queen. "I understand" said the creature. Finally, this was his moment, their moment. "When shall I proceed?"

" ** _Wait until tomorrow, when the young Queen is away from her citadel. Then, you shall do what you do best. And when you are finished, do whatever you want until we reclaim you again. Then you shall come here again to meet with the other hierophant._** "

The undead then made a reverence and, using the sword in hand, he teleported to another section of Meridian.

Away from that deep dark forest, back into the castle, in the dungeons, there was an enormous crack that was called the Abyss of Shadows. It was believed to not have an end; and during the rule of Phobos it had been usual to thrown on it the majority of the rebel prisoners. Under the Queen´s rule, she had rescinded from its use.

This time, whatever, something was coming up the Abyss. Something large and multi-armed. Something old and hungry. Something enormous, with six legs and its body made of black worms; an enormous vertical mouth full of teeth decorating its belly. Three red eyes in his forehead and an eye in each one of its legs.

It was climbing the Abyss. It was the first one of a Legion to come.

A cage cannot content something forever. The storm was coming.

 _Prisons are the temples where devils learn to prey. Every time we turn the key we twist the knife of fate, because every time we cage a man we close him in with hate._ Gregory David Roberts

* * *

 **Author Notes: Well folks, this was the second chapter. Hope that you really liked it. Like the first one, this chapter is dedicated to set the pieces in the board; to show how meridian and the meridianites are doing after the end of the second season. Like you just seen… it is not as good as the girl´s in Earth. This chapter was named "People in cages" to show how the events of previous seasons had caged numerous characters, both literally and metaphorically. Frost the Hunter, a character than didn´t transience from "I, STRONG DUMB MUSCLE" in canon; is caged in the Infinite City, but now is also caged in doubts about if he made a good decision joining others and bowing to their will only looking for recognition.**

 **Cedric and Miranda are caged in a very, VERY sick relationship. Actually, their "emotions" are genuine; Cedric is not manipulating her or vice versa, it's just that their attraction to each other and the reasons behind it are warped. During the running of this story I am going to deepen in HOW MUCH their relationship is wrong between the point of view of human standards; but I am going to portray them as a couple that cares and loves each other; albeit in a twisted way.**

 **Prince Phobos is caged in fear and despair. He had lost everything again and this time even what he believed that was genuinely his has been taken from him. Why am I portraying him like this? Well, I never liked the character. In the beginning of the comic book he looked interesting, but then he just transformed into a plane stereotypical evil character. For me, he always has seemed pretty pathetic. And that´s how I am portraying him here. As a petty man that wanted everyone to bow to him and recognize him as the pinnacle of the universe; but that instead is reduced to be a normal human being. He is afraid and beaten so hard, that he cages himself inside his shattered pride and compassion to try and feel that he still is better than others. Indeed, truly pathetic.**

 **Elyon, oh sweet and naive Elyon… is not sweet and naive anymore. The two enormous stabs in the back that she suffered in the canon series from the hands of people she trusted, plus the time that she spend ALONE inside the jewel until the members of CHYNK joined her; left her psyche with considerable wounds. This had driven her into building a cage of iron and coldness around her in order to become stronger. And in some short of way, she had accomplished it. And now she wants her world and kingdom to experiment the same progression. She is caged in distrust against practically everyone; and is obsessed with truth and progress. How will those things come to Meridian? We will have to wait to see…**

 **Caleb is caged in doubts not against others, but against himself. Caleb had always seen the world in black and white; light and dark. His experience with Phobos and the rebellion and how Kandrakar supported the latter only encouraged his moral view. But then, his mother came into the light and the revelation, plus her actions and motives; made Caleb start to doubt himself and various actions of the rebellion during the civil war. Because in my story the rebels did some very NASTY THINGS during the war. Because I don´t find plausible that an armed miniature army playing guerrillas is an impeccable force of honor and good.**

 **Julian, in the other hand, is caged in hate. And when I say hate I MEAN hate. His speech to Caleb about understanding but not justifying the actions of others is genuine; but even if he is able to understand Nerissa, he hates her with every bit of his soul because, well; because she raped him. And Nerissa is still caged in her personal Lotus-Eater Machine; living a life that she doesn´t really deserve; believing that she is finally the recognized hero that she always wanted to be and loved by everyone. The fact that Cassidy and Julian appear by her sides is made intentionally.**

 **And finally, yes it´s the Tracker. HE IS ALIVE! I always liked his design in the cartoon, and the moment that he died I was like "really?" So I decided to bring him back and give him a more important role; and also make a Sleepy Hollow reference that I hope that everyone had recognized while doing it. Also, if you had read the prologue, you may know for sure who was speaking and commanding Tracker, and know what the hell is that thing climbing the Abyss of Shadows.**

 **Finally, the other hierophant that was mentioned and that Tracker is going to meet in future chapters is a mole inside the court. Yep, another one. His/her identity will be revealed in time, I promise; albeit tracker knows about it already, thanks to those telepathically send images.**

 **And that is all. The third chapter will be called "Explosion of flesh and metal" and it will be… well the set in motion of the pieces presented into these two chapters. Like an explosion. And when finished, we will enter the Riddle Arc of this story, focusing more in the Guardians, but not forgetting Meridian.**

 **Have pleasant days and nights, you all.**


	3. Chapter 3: Explosion of metal and flesh

**Disclaimer: I don´t own WITCH, it is the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **So, here is the third chapter, "Explosion of Metal and flesh". I know that I said that it would be called Explosion of flesh and metal; but I changed the order because… well, you will see. Enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it!**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter 3: Explosion of metal and flesh

 ** _The world of Earth. December 20_** ** _th_** ** _. Monday morning._**

"´Cause he gets up in the morning, and he goes to work at nine, and he comes home at five-thirty…" Raphael Sylva was singing happily while going by car to his work at the Sheffield Institute. Well, it was not his real work, nut the man had learn with the pass of the years to enjoy his covers. He once worked in a bakery while he was plotting the assassination of a politic in Belgium. Since that mission, entrusted to him by the leader of a cartel that wanted the politic dead not because he was a burden to his operations but because he had killed the leader´s brother just to get more votes; Sylva has known that there was nothing better after blowing the head of a target with a sniper rifle than a little box full of little biscuits. Since that mission, he always made biscuits. It was relaxing, and they were delicious. The Belgian baker that he worked for made better one, though. It was a shame that Sylva couldn´t spent more time with him.

Actually, he had made biscuits in the morning and he was bringing them with him in order to distribute them among the students of his class to make a proper vacation parting between him and the young ones. He had made biscuits for the teaching staff too, of course . After all, just like this one was their final day prior to vacation; it was his final day in the job too.

Sylva patted the biscuit box that sat at the copilot seat at his right and directed his car to the teachers parking. Parking the machine in the first free spot that he saw and that wasn´t reserved; the mercenary working as informatics teacher exited the car with the box in hand. Closing the vehicle with some difficulty due to the size of the box, he walked inside the building.

"And he´s oh, so good; and he´s oh, so fine; and he´s oh, so healthy; in his body and his mind." Continued to sing Sylva while he was walking the corridors of the institute and directing himself to the teachers' room. He will left half of the biscuits there and bring the other half to class with him. He was in awe. Today could possibly be the peak moment of his career.

"He´s a well respected man about town; doing the best things so conservatively" continued the man. Damn, he really liked the Kinks.

After the end of classes, and the proper wish for good vacations to the students by Principal Knickerbocker; the doors of the institute burst open and a legion of freedom hungry teenagers run to the cold streets of the town of Heatherfield; some starting automatically to play with the snow in them; some just breathing the fresh air, and others just positioning themselves as far as possible from the dammed building of boredom and stress.

This last one was the option made by the group of five girls that were called Guardians, albeit recently their duties as cosmic protectors seemed to have got more lightweight. Not that they wanted to complain. It was good to just be normal girls, especially in Christmas vacation, after fighting evil magical princes, mad sorceress and the likes of that.

The five of them were going to spend the little time that they had until their respective meals with their families and, in the afternoon, they will went to the mall, in order to start buying the Christmas presents for their relatives.

But before that, a sweet, hot and dense cup of chocolate in the coffee shop next to the institute sounded like the best idea in the world to each one of them; especially in the cold of winter; when their breaths were visible due to temperature difference. The ones that had their bellies full of Mr. Sylva´s biscuits thought of it like even more strongly.

So there were the five girls, sitting in a table of the coffee shop, each one holding their cup of fuming chocolate.

"Cheers!" said the group, and after the toast, each one took a little sip of their cups. Except for Irma; who tried to drink the cup completely in only one big gulp.

"Hot, hot, hot!" screamed the Water Guardian, holding her throat after putting the cup again in the table.

"And that´s what happens when we are impatient" addressed Taranee, like some sort of speaker in a conference.

"Hold it Irma, I´ll bring you water!" said Hay Lin, standing up and returning after no more than a minute with a glass of the fresh liquid.

"Thanks" said Irma after drinking the water in the same manner that she had drunk the chocolate.

"Well, just when you think that Irma cannot be even more of a glutton…" started Cornelia.

"I´m not a glutton! It´s just that hot chocolate helps my stomach when it´s full. Especially if the fullness is caused by biscuits."

"Oh yeah, I heard from the boys" said Hay Lin "Mr. Sylva gave you all biscuits to celebrate his departing!"

"You know, I´m kinda sad that he will not continue as the teacher of informatics. He was pretty good at it" said Taranee "and also very kind with us"

"Not only with us. Collins told me that the teachers are delighted with him" continued Will. "He said that Knickerbocker tried to convince him to stay and stretch his contract, but that he denied politely."

"Ah, one good teacher and he goes away." mourned Irma.

"Yeah, I bet that I know what kind of "good" teacher you are referring at" mocked Cornelia

"Ugh! Hey, the man maybe looks better than the majority of the staff but he is like… How old is he, anyway?"

"Don´t know. Thirty, forty? He looks pretty young for being a teacher."

"Maybe he trains" added Hay Lin to the conversation of the blonde and the brunette.

"I cannot believe that we are discussing about a teacher, and explicitly about his age, when we have just finished classes"

"But Will, he gave biscuits to us!" said Irma mocking anger. "How much cool can that be? They were even handmade biscuits, not bought in some bakery!"

"Wait, how can you tell that?" asked a curious Taranee.

"My stomach knows the difference" said the Water Guardian, folding her arms and closing her eyes, sounding proud.

"See, just a little glutton" mocked Cornelia again.

"Shut up, Corny" said Irma in retort. And the group laughed at the constant bickering of the two friends.

After paying, each one of them departed to their respective home, according to meet at the shopping mall entrance at five-thirty.

When Will arrived at hers, she encountered Dean Collins in his usual resting couch.

"Oh, hello there Will. How was your last school day?" asked the man

"Good, especially because it was the last" joked the teen. "How was yours?"

"Pretty good last day before vacation; Sylva made biscuits as a departure gift" answered Collins.

"Oh he gave you those too?"

"Yeah. I don´t even want to eat. I´m full of that man´s delicious cupcakes. I´m actually slightly depressed that he is gone now. He was one of the best coworkers that I ever had."

"Everyone is sad about that. Even the girls are sad."

"And you?"

"Meh, the man was fine. I am not a people of technology" said Will, evading of course the fact that, as the Quintessence Guardian, she could bring almost every technological device that worked with electricity to life and ask for their help almost just by standing next to them; which, of course, included every computer that she had encountered since she discovered her powers.

She then headed to her room, and changing to her pajamas in order to not dirty her clothes and use them again to go to the mall; she threw them to her bed. The truth was that, for Will, Sylva had something weird around him. No one could be that perfect. Especially an informatics teacher in a little town´s public institute. She didn´t know what, but something was maintaining her wary of the now ex-professor.

"Will, come down and help Dean to set the table!" called her mother from below.

Will abandoned her thoughts about Sylva and headed down the stairs. Whatever it was that was troubling her about the man, it didn´t mattered anymore. She would probably not see him again.

* * *

"At the mall at five-thirty" said continuously a recording of Will´s voice in a little screen.

Raphael Sylva was currently busy with a bunch of programming and software that were distributed around a series of bigger screens that were in turn distributed in a large, dark room full of cables that went from the screens and a series of innumerable CPUs to a large, humanoid thing in the center of the room.

Even with a life of practice in hacking, Sylva was having trouble with the programming. And this was the most rudimentary version? Just the prototype? Then what the hell was needed to start running the definite product that the Doctor and the Boss were building?

Well, it didn´t matter.

Sylva almost made a sound of delight proper of a little girl when the programming ended, the screens except the one repeating the sentence of Will shut down, and the eyes of the creature illuminated.

The thing stood up and it revealed its appearance. An eight foot tall and incredibly bulky humanoid construct. Its body completely made of metal, the thing stood there, not making any sound except for its insides´; where the machinery made it function.

Sylva looked at it. He was almost in the urge to give the robot a hug. His interior child was jumping so hard that it could burst outside Sylva´s body any moment.

The machine had his instructions uploaded inside its memory. It knew how to proceed, and also when and where.

The only thing lasting was an order, that Sylva provided after looking again at the recording, which still reproduced "At the mall at five-thirty" continuously without an end.

"Well, you heard that big boy", said Sylva to the robot. "You have to be by the mall at five-thirty. Bring me a quintet of beautiful corpses, would you?"

The robot made some sort of affirmative noise and, not waiting any moment, it launched itself to the skies, making an enormous hole in the container where it had been waiting for its activation. Of course, the machine would not return victorious from its assignment. Even if the MK I was a heavy hitter capable of an incredible mass of destruction, the boss had proved it making another machine fight that… animal, for lack of a better term; that the good Doctor kept as a pet; and it had lost. And the girls were supposed to match and surpass the fighting capability of that wild beast.

Such a shame, it was the most awesome thing that Sylva had seen in his entire life. But, of course, if he stayed he surely would see much more incredible things. And to think that he got fired from his original job as a soldier for that very same attitude. What a bunch of depressing morons were in charge of the world.

He looked at his watch. It was still soon for the MK I to launch the assault. The machine would surely wait until the assigned hour to initiate its programming. Until then, Sylva will get in his designated position. "The best mission of my entire career" whispered to himself the man after exiting the container and closing the door, albeit it was a futile action now that the ceiling was torn open. But the devices must be maintained there. It was all according to the plan.

* * *

At the mall, the group was waiting for Will to arrive. When she made it, it was past 17:45; and the others looked at her funny.

"Well, so much for not being late" Irma scolded at her.

"Sorry, I lost myself a little after eating" apologized the redhead.

"Which in Vandom language means: I fell asleep and didn´t want to awaken" said then Taranee. Will smiled and lowered her head a little after that comment. Then the group entered the mall.

The girls started to move from boutique to boutique; from stand to stand, from shop to shop. After a little time of shopping, each one had bought the majority of their Christmas presents for their families and friends. The group then took a rest in one of the benches that were scattered inside the mall.

"Well, that does it!" exclaimed Cornelia after her butt hit the tables of the seat, a bunch of paper bags full of things in her braces. "I have everything that I need for everyone"

Each one of the other members of the troupe was looking at their friend and the amount of bags that she was holding like they were some sort of ancient treasure.

"What?" asked the blonde upon seeing their stares.

"I don´t know; maybe we are a little socked that each one of us can put her buying into one bag but you have like… two, four, six… nine?! Really?!" was Taranee´s response.

"Hey, I have a lot to people to give presents this Christmas" excused herself the Earth Guardian; while Hay Lin started to peep inside the multiple bags that Cornelia had brought with her.

"I have brought something for Mom, for Dad, for Lillian, even for Napoleon"

"What did you brought Caleb? Grandma said to me that he was going to be here for this year´s Christmas party at the Silver Dragon" continued Hay Lin while looking inside one of the bags in such a manner that she was putting her head inside of it.

At the declaration, the blonde went silent. "Cornelia, are you ok?" inquired Will, looking directly at the blondes now dull face.

"…" was the only response of Cornelia.

"Corny? Did you just suffer an overload? Quick Will, zap her!"

"Fuck, I forgot to buy him something"

The whole group laughed at the expense of the blond Guardian. "Ha, ha; very funny. But no, seriously, the first time he is here for Christmas with me and I don´t have anything for him. I don´t even know what to buy him! Taranee! You are the genius, quick, what is the better present to a teenager soldier from another world?

"Uhm… A sword?" suggested the Fire Guardian. "What?" she said upon Cornelia´s gaze. "It sounds quite logical"

"Right" Cornelia cleared her voice, "Here Mom, a pair of beautiful glasses. Here dad, have a new tie. Oh Lillian, I bought this for your cat! And also, Mom, Dad; this is my boyfriend, and I gonna give him this huge piece of metal designed to kill things. That would sound totally normal to my parents in a Christmas party."

The group started to laugh again, until Will felt something. Her head then started aching, very strongly, in fact.

"Will? Are you not feeling well?" asked her Irma. The others leaned over her friend and leader. Something didn´t seem well.

"It´s… the head. It hurts… it´s like some sort of… static sound or…"

Will´s sudden headache was accompanied when something fell from the sky and broke the ceiling of the mall in its way to the floor. It was eight feet tall, and made of metal. And it´s very presence made Will feel uncomfortable. The girls looked at it and when the smoke o the impact cleared, they saw… a giant robot?

"Oh my god! It´s Iron Man!" said Irma trying to subtract tension; to no effect.

Then the mechanical bulky humanoid looked around, until it saw the girls. Then, its forearms opened and revealed two sets of mini-missiles in each one.

"Starting mission" said the machine, still looking at the girls, with a mechanical and emotionless voice. "Search and destroy"

And then the missiles were launched in every possible direction, colliding, exploding and destroying everything in their path. One of them was leaning to the girls' location, and it could have surely evaporated them if not for Will holding a tiny spherical pink jewel in her hand and using it almost intuitively.

"Guardians unite"

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian (Metamoor)_**

Even after the chat with his father, Caleb couldn´t avoid feeling proud of being a meridianite when his Queen, her new maid Irvine, a few ministers and engineers and her personal guard; composed of Tynar, Drake and himself; arrived at the village of Kelliwic; at the east of the capital; for the Queen to inaugurate a new construct made in the city and for the chief to thank her and the court for her efforts rebuilding the town.

Kelliwic had always been a city of miners and workers of metal and minerals. If not for the underwater mines that were opened during the tyranny, Kelliwic would never fell to disgrace. Now that the kingdom was at peace; the mines (the legal ones) with good people, entire family trees, working in them; could reach its former glory. And apparently, the construct that the Queen had designed with the aid of the engineers and architects, could help them to improve their duties with the Kingdom.

The construct was a massive building, large than the majority of the houses or even the great house where the village chief and the village´s councilmen celebrated their meetings. Caleb liked that. In the days of Phobos, the chiefs were assigned by the corrupted court, and they could do probably everything that they wanted to the people because they had the Prince´s word to backup them. But now the chiefs were chosen by the villages´ inner councils; and these councils by the people of the villages.

The chiefs weren´t leaders of their villages, but representatives of their people´s will; ready to transmit it to the court. Elyon and Caleb had discussed that it was very similar that something called "Parliamentary Monarchy" in Earth; with elected politics and bureaucrats that ultimately, responded to the crown.

Caleb was brought out of his thoughts by Drake elbowing him; a sign that his companion wanted to speak with him privately. The two of them slowed down in order to gain some privacy. Then, Drake asked Caleb almost in whisper. Why has not either Captain Alborn or Captain Miridiael come here with the Queen? It´s a great moment for her"

"Captain Miridiael has not… felt well for the time being, according to what I´ve heard. Apparently, she has been staring in bed almost without eating or drinking since yesterday. So Alborn is staying with her"

"Seriously? I hope that she gets better. The Queen knows about this?"

"Yes, of course. Irvine informed her, I think"

"She doesn´t seems too troubled by it. Well, seeing how things are going on for the last weeks, is not so surprising"

"Please Drake, don´t tell me that you are going to start with the Iron Queen thing too"

"Start? The villagers are starting. The people in the streets are starting. The majority of the court and guard members have been doing it for a while. Don´t tell me that it doesn´t disturb you"

"It does. But on the other side, look at all this" said Caleb while signaling as discreetly as possible his surroundings. "Look what she has accomplished in such a short time frame. I don´t know how to feel. My loyalty is to Meridian and its Queen. But are we scarifying the later in favor of the former?"

"I don´t know, my friend. I really wouldn´t like to threw away the happiness of a good person just in favor of the Greater Good"

"Neither would I" answered Caleb. But you still remember Sonder Hill, don´t you? said a voice in his head; that Caleb tried to dispel shaking it.

"Are you alright?" said Drake, concerned for his companion and friend.

"Yes, it´s nothing. Let's go or we will lose the Queen´s speech."

And the two friends continued their walk.

* * *

In the depths of the Infinite City; in the prison that held the remnants of the forces of Prince Phobos (and the prince himself) a trio of men was directing a little platter of guards destined to guard the prisoners. After the late and recurring escapes of the prisoners during the last months; the guarding has been intensified.

The three commanders taking leadership of them were composed of a former rebel called Aldarn, a young Galhot and son of, as he liked to say, the best blacksmith in the capital; who used to be Caleb´s second in command during the civil war; a very bulky and middle aged blue Galhot called Vathek; and also a former member of the court of the prince itself; a Galhot casted in cape and helmet; a veteran among the Guard; Raythor.

Not long ago, this very man had been trapped inside one of the cages that now he helped to guard; and also feeling himself proud of serving the tyrant. Because Raythor lived through a strict honor code, and if he gave his word to serve a man; he had to serve his master; right of wrong. That was at least until the words of the Air Guardian had made him realize that Phobos was not worthy of his efforts; that the Prince lacked the tiniest bit of honor in himself.

So now, Raythor lived not to the honor of serving his master independently of his or her actions; but to honor itself. And if he noticed someone committing dishonorable acts even if he or she was in a higher position than him; he would denounce and punish it. Fortunately for Raythor, his actual situation seemed to not need that. His new Queen seemed incredibly better to the task of commanding than her deposed brother; and the members of the Guard seemed as obedient and professional as he recalled.

He still seemed a little wary of the new commanders and captains; who were almost completely members of the former rebellion. He had fight against them; imprison and even put to execution some of them. And let's not talk about the "banishments" in the Abyss of Shadows; or the fact that the first thing that he did upon his return was capture Tynar and Vathek and tried to kill them if the Guardians had not interfered.

Actually he didn´t feel angry in the slightest against the former rebels and the Guardians about imposing the same fate upon him, at least not now. He actually never liked to do that to people in the firsts place, but… it were orders.

One of his main reasons to command the Knights of Vengeance and obeying Nerissa was to make the Rebellion and the Guardians pay for banishing him. Sometimes he remembered the Abyss of Shadows. How he fell for a prolonged time. It felt like days. Then he achieved to grab the wall of stone and prevent himself from keep falling.

But he didn´t climb the way back at first. There was something there that kept him from climbing back. Something that made him feel depressed, lacking energy. Ironically, only after setting his mind around the theme of vengeance; the sensation disappeared, instead letting a sensation of wrath to take over. If Nerissa hadn´t being there when he returned, he would had probably gone into a rampage against the castle by himself. And that sounded like something that Frost would do. He didn´t like it. Now he considered his fate some sort of… what did the Air guardian called it? Karma? Yes, that was it. Live honorably and life will reward you. Act dishonorably and life will punish you. He liked that ideology. The fate of the former prince seemed to accentuate that belief.

He had bent quite well back with the Guards, and even the commanders that held a grudge against him for what he did in his days as a servant of Phobos gave him an opportunity of redemption for his role into the Prince last defeat and the ability to turn Gargoyle and Sandpit, both of them quite valuable allies, to their side.

"Hey Raythor" it was Frost, of all people, who was patting Crimson while sitting by the animal´s side. "For the sake of the old days as comrades, could you please move me to another cell? I don´t like to watch day by day the indecent spectacle that those two offer" said the brute referring to the two shapeshipter lovers; the two of them in their respective human forms.

"Then close your eyes, you idiotic living mass of muscle" retorted Miranda from her shared cell.

"Why you little…" started the bounty-hunter.

"Because she can" answered this time Cedric, impeding the commentary on his beloved.

"Oh, please, don´t make me talk about you, you scaled pervert" directed himself Frost to the snake man.

Cedric seemed to retort using one of his eloquent phrases, indicated by the smug smile on his face; but suddenly, the smile faded away, his eyes wide open, and his skin went blank.

At the same time, Crimson tensed his body, like waiting some sort of attack. The Lurdens started roaring in their cages and punching the walls of the cells, and Sniffer; Trackers hunt dog, which had been totally silent until that moment, howled.

This made all the present guards and all of the three commanders to shift to a fighting position, all of them looking to the Prince´s cell, expecting a movement from the deposed tyrant. But when Phobos stepped out to the light, he looked as confused and surprised as his captors.

"Cedric, what´s happening?" asked Miranda to her cell mate; incapable of sensing what was coming due to her immaturity. Cedric only emitted one word, while looking, quite terrified, to the entry of the prison.

"Predator"

Noticing this, Raythor changed the direction of his defensive position, and alerted his companions. "From behind!" Shouted the veteran to his men; who also looked to the entrance.

And for it came a strange roar and a series of heavy but fast steps in the ground. And when the predator entered the room, no one was prepared for what it was.

And then hell ensued.

* * *

 ** _Back on Earth. Heatherfield Shopping Mall. Mechanical terror._**

A man named Robert Smith had come to the mall in order to buy a little teddy bear for his baby grandchild. Robert had lived a very long life. Happy? Well, sometimes yes, sometimes… no, definitely no. Being a veteran from Vietnam was not something to be proud about. Any veteran to any modern war could say that. But at least he could be sure that he had been a good and proud father to his daughter Veronica; and he was, at his 78 years of life, awing to meet the little baby. Then he heard something fell from the sky, reminding him of the bombs and the bullets of the battlefield; and then everything had gone to hell.

He felt the hit of the expansive wave that is made after an explosion, even after all those years his body not too unfamiliar with the sensation, and then he only knew that he was lying on the ground, his body bleeding; but still alive. He started to look around, until a shadow loomed over him. A giant robot, eight feet tall, was over him. It raised its right feet and put it over the old man's head. "Search and destroy" said the machine in its emotionless voice, and started to apply pressure over Robert. The man could feel his skull cracking little by little; until something hit the metal monster and made him fall back; releasing him.

"Leave that man alone!" shouted someone. A voice of… a girl?

The MK I stood silently there, looking to where the attack and the yell had come. In the direction, five figures levitated fair up from the ground, each one casted in attire of blue and pink. At their backs, Robert could see a pair of wings in each one of them. "Angels?" was the only word that flew out of Robert before falling unconscious.

No, they weren´t angels. But they were protectors, warriors of pureness and justice. And if asked to the correct people, you could discover that the majority of things that humanity had called angels were based in this girls´ multiple predecessors.

These five were the current generation of Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions. The current heralds of Kandrakar. They were WITCH. And they were angry.

Think well. Think fast. Think now.

Concentrate. One second. Think. Two seconds. Act. Three seconds.

The man is still alive.

"Hay Lin! Bring that man to safety!" shouted Will to her companion. And without even saying a word, Hay Lin flew fast to the injured but still breathing Robert Smith and, using her invisibility powers, flew off with the man in her arms.

"Cornelia! The structure! Make it stand!" directed Will to the blond Earth Guardian; who responded with a nod and started to make pillars of stone and spread branches from the floor to the walls in order to reinforce the building.

"Taranee, Irma! With me!" directing herself to her last two companions and charging her hands with a blast of Quintessence, Will eyed the machine. "Hit it with everything you got."

And then a powerful combination of flames, high pressured water and lightning hit the metal man; making it to fall to its back. It stood again quite quickly, although.

"Will, you hearing me?" said Hay Lin through their telepathy link. "I have put the old man quite far from where you three and that thing are fighting. Will there are… a lot of people spread here and I am not feeling air coming in and out of their bodies; but… but there are still people that seem… alive. I need some sort of protected spot to put them all in."

"You hear, Cornelia?" asked mentally the redhead. "I´m on it" was the respond; while Cornelia created a dome of thick thorns around the spot where the old man had been left by the Air Guardian and Hay Lin started to drop there all the people that she could find.

"What the hell is this thing made of?" said Irma. They had been blasted it with everything for quite a while and the robot didn´t even finch.

"If I could get closer" said the Fire Guardian. "I could melt its external cape. I think that it is what is protecting it. It must be strengthen steel, or something like that"

"There is more to it" commented Will. "I cannot get inside or animate it and bound it to my will. Something is blocking my technopathy. That static sound earlier, for sure"

"Will, if it has immunity to your powers, that means that…" thought Taranee

"Yeah, the metal asshole is here for us"

The robot ended its play of being on the receiving end, displaying a pair of impulse devices from its legs; it launched itself to the trio. They flew in order to avoid being hit, but at landing, the mechanical monster made a little crater.

"Cornelia, are you done? I could use a heavy hitter like you right now" said Will.

"I´m coming! I did the best I can with the building but I don´t think that it could last much more! We need to bring the… the survivors out of here before it collapses"

"Irma! Go to Hay Lin, Cornelia will replace you! Make sure that everyone is okay and start to bring out the injured!" said Will while evading another launch of the MK I

"Got it!" said the Water Guardian; and she flew off to her chinese companion, crossing Cornelia in the way. "Hey Corny, how much until this place goes down?!"

"No more than ten minutes. Less if the fight continues like it´s going."

Irma understood and flew faster until reached Hay Lin.

"How many did you found?"

"Alive? Less than sixty. Oh God Irma, there must been hundreds of people today here…"

"Let´s leave that for later. I will open a gap in the wall and we will carry everyone out there. Did someone saw you in this form?"

"No, don´t worry. The majority is unconscious, and the ones that aren´t, either are in shock, or thinking that I am a hallucination. Open that wall; I will start picking up some of them."

Back in the battle, Cornelia had made it to the epicenter of the chaos. The mechanical monster had stopped of trying to get a hold of the girls in the air, and was trying to blow up them using an energy wave that flew out of his mouth.

Taranee evaded it and attacked back with rapid shots of fire balls; while Will was able to block the attack with her powers. Upon seeing it, Cornelia knew what to do. She flew directly to the ground and caused a controlled earthquake that knocked the mechanical soldier out of balance; and then she trapped it to the ground with a series of strong vines.

"Quick Tara! I don´t know how much time I can hold down this thing! It´s considerably strong!" said the blonde, while still creating more vines.

Taranee flew towards the metal giant and opted for the logical end. Highest temperature, shortest distance. And she unleashed her flames. She could feel the metal melting. But the vines burnt before it. And the MK I was standing up again.

But the metal of its armor was melting for sure. Although, that fact didn´t stop the machine from punching Taranee in her stomach and sending her flying to the other side of the large mall section where they were fighting.

"You screwed up, big guy" said Taranee while coughing blood.

And then a giant rock pillar emerged from the ground thanks to Cornelia and hit the machine so hard that the majority of its semi-melted armor fell from it. Still, the thing refused to stay down; getting up again, albeit much more difficult than before. "Seaaarch" the thing emitted some incomprehensible sounds "aaaand deestroyyyyy"

And then its chest burst open and one last missile, placed where its hearth should had been; was launched in the direction of Irma and Hay Lin.

"Shit! You asshole robot!" said Will, enraged to the extent. "Quintessence!" and unleashing the full power of her element, almost creating a miniaturized electric storm; Will practically evaporated the machine, leaving only its head. "Search… and destroy… bring corpses… of five… girls…" said before its eyes shut down.

"Irma, Hay Lin" transmitted Cornelia using the mental link. "Another missile has been sent to you! Be careful!"

In the location of the other two girls, Hay Lin was transporting the last survivor; a relatively young man that was babbling about potatoes and crepes in utter shock; outside the building; hear that and handled him to Irma. Then put herself in the direction of the coming projectile.

Irma, upon catching the man of the potatoes, shouted back "What are you doing?!"

"Stopping it! Take care of the people!" and then Hay Lin raised a wall of wind. And launched it to the coming projectile, making it explode; and also generating more wind to stop and contain the explosion. "Come on, come on, come on…" said Hay Lin; but the explosion was not stopping and made its way onto the Air Guardian´s hands; starting burning them. It was painful, but it only made Hay Lin try harder "Come on, come on, come on!" the explosion started to fade away. After a few more seconds it was gone. And Hay Lin descended slowly to the ground. Irma got to her. "Are you fucking insane?"

"Is… the people… safe?" asked the Air Guardian.

"Yes" said plainly Irma.

"Yippee. Because I´m going down now" and Hay Lin fell backwards, but Irma cached her. Sitting in the ground and putting the head of Hay Lin in her lap, Irma looked at her. "Hay-Hay, your hands…"

"It´s okay Irma, really. It hurts, but it´s okay"

"Hey Corny, you listening? We are…" Irma looked around her to the people that they had rescued. The least injured of them must have, minimum, some bones broken. She looked to Hay Lin, eyes closing, her hands horribly burned, but still breathing. "We are alive, Corny"

"We too" said Cornelia. Then the blonde flew towards the Fire Guardian alongside Will. "Are you well Taranee?"

"The bastard got my ribs broken with only one punch while in Guardian form. Not even Cedric could do that! The hell was that thing?"

"No idea", said Will while she and Cornelia put each one an arm of Taranee around their shoulder and the trio flew towards the other two. Will directed one last gaze to the remaining head of the MK I. "But we will find out"

When they reached the other two, they left Taranee in the ground the best way they could. "How many did you get out?" asked Will.

"Hay Lin counted less than sixty" said Irma.

Will nodded, making mentally the same supposition that Hay Lin had made earlier. Shit, the hell had just happened?

"Okay" said the redhead, hearing sirens in the distance and pulling out the Hearth of Kandrakar. "It´s almost certain that the moment that we return to our human forms, we will feel incredibly painful; but we must make sure that no one find out about this. If someone asks any one of you; we didn´t know what happened, and we survived because we were almost at the entrance. If they insist, we will say that it was probably a bomb. Everyone okay with it?"

The others nodded. "Good, here we go" and in a flash of pink light, the five of them were normal again. And, in truth, it really was painful.

* * *

Meanwhile, in her house, Susan Vandom was reading a book alongside Dean. She must admit, having a history teacher as a boyfriend really had took in her. She liked the book too. "History of middle age Europe", could be read in the cover. It went pretty dark while talking about the inquisition and some of the torture techniques, but it was quite illustrative.

Then the phone rang. Susan picked it and heard a familiar voice in the other side. "Oh, hello Tom. Do you want something?"

"Susan, put the TV." Said the policeman.

"Why?"

"Just put it" insisted the Lair man.

So Susan put the TV on. And then her soul fell to her feet. Dean looked at the screen and jumped from his sit. "Where…" said the woman to the phone.

"In the hospital, all five of them and out of danger, so don´t worry" answered Tom. "I have to call the others if they still don´t know. Good luck".

The call ended, and Susan left the phone fall to the ground. When it hit it, she and Dean were already out, in the car. Inside the house, the television was still turn on, and it was emitting a set of breaking news: "Explosion at Heatherfield Mall. Hundreds of deaths and only a few survivors. The police and the competent authorities…"

* * *

 ** _Back on Meridian. The Infinite City. Living horror of flesh._**

Raythor had seen and fought a lot of things in his life. Shapeshipter bandits, trained warriors, Lurdens, in his days of youth he even faced a wyvern; albeit he had lost spectacularly that last one. But nothing, nothing, had been as terrifying and monstrous as the thing that had just entered the Infinite City right now.

For starters, the thing, the… creature (it was alive, albeit the soldier wasn´t so sure. It looked though) was big. Enormous and large. Not as big as Gargoyle, but yes bigger than Cedric in his beast form and Sandpit. And the body… it didn´t look like a body at all. It looked like an amalgam of black worms, moving each one of them at its own time, making the creature look like a sentient swarm. It had eyes in its forehead, sure, but also had eyes in each one of its six legs. And each of the eyes was looking into a different direction.

But the most disturbing thing was its mouth. It was vertical and full of teeth; and went and reached from under its forehead eyes to its… torso. Raythor felt uncomfortable. It looked like a giant and grotesque version of the private parts of a woman, just full of teeth.

The creature didn´t lost a minute, though. It roared, and it did it so strongly that the eardrums of the many presents shake with violence. Then it attacked.

Each one of the three commanders had seen a lot of battle in their life. Even young Lieutenant Aldarn. That had made them able to predict the movement of every enemy that faced them, more or less. But when the thing attacked, no of them knew how to proceed.

It lost its form, the living swamp of worms distorting into a mass of tentacles, each one grabbing a soldier and throwing them like they were ragdolls.

"Maintain the formation! Don´t let the fear get to you!" shouted Vathek. Raythor was with him in that. That thing was dreading. The way that moved, the way that sounded… it felt unnatural, like something out of a nightmare. It didn´t feel like belonging to this world.

"Wait in the formation!" repeated Vathek. Raythor never thought of him as an strategist or a leader; but his thoughts were proven wrong right now. Then, the two elderly soldiers saw it, even in the chaos. An opening. "Attack!" said the two of them at the same time.

And the platoon of guards attacked; with its three officials directing in front. What followed can only be described as madness. Guards were screaming, fighting against black worms with swords and shields. Or a flail in Vathek´s case.

But the worst part was that they didn´t seem to have an opportunity. That was truth. Their opponent was not an animal or a living species from other reign. It was a monstrosity, build from the remnants of a forgotten cosmic moor of irrationality; bound only to satisfy its more lowly and feral desires.

Some of the guards were torn open, while some others were just slammed against the walls, ceiling and floor so strongly that their internal organs exploded. Others had more luck and were just dispatched to the side with some of their bones broken and muscles torn.

But the most terrible fate was met by the ones that were swallowed whole by the creature. Its vertical mouth full of teeth chewing on them, armor and weapons included, like they were fresh fruits. They screamed until the end. And the creature looked more delighted by that fact that by the own act of eating.

In a rage moment, induced by the fact that their men were being treated like livestock more than like real soldiers; the trio of officials launched themselves against the creature with no expectations of coming out alive. Then, by sheer luck or chance, one of Aldarn´s daggers hit one of the creature´s eyes; one of the ones that was in one of its legs.

And the creature screamed. "Raythor, Vathek! The eyes, attack its eyes! Shouted Aldarn before being pinned to the wall by the very same leg that he had hurt. Even if trying to accomplish the same, Raythor and Vathek, were reduced between seconds; each one pinned to the ground by the creature.

It hadn´t been a fight, or a battle. It had been a complete domination for the part of the creature. How many guards were guarding the prison? No less than forty this time, thanks to the Queen´s orders of reinforce the vigilance upon her brother. And that thing had done to them the same that a child could do to an anthill with an oil dipper and a little flame.

Now Raythor and the others were dominated. Aldarn pinned to the wall; he and Vathek in the ground incapable of moving themselves. The creature was there, having regained its usual form, the vertical mouth spouting spittle that burned and melted the ground at touching it.

In the cells, the prisoners had gone silent, too shocked to shout or act. All of them were hopping for the first time in their life that the cells that imprisoned them were strong enough to protect them from that thing. Even Cedric was completely terrified. Was that thing the opportunity that his instincts had been informing him of? Now the only thing that his mind was telling him was "don´t get in that things way". The same went for Frost. He was just waiting until that thing ate the others and started to go after them. Unlike Cedric, who was intelligent enough to tell that that creature was far out of his league by how he was now; Frost was planning to go out with a bang.

But the creature just stood there, doing nothing at all. It looked around and spotting the corpses of guards that were scattered across the prison, it shivered; like amusing itself in what it had done. Thne it sprouted a sound from its mouth that sounded like a vile laugh. And then, against all the odds, it spoke.

"And I thought that" a deep and animalistic voice came from the vertical mouth "you were exaggerating with them, Hierophant. They really fought back, these messy pieces of meat!"

The survivors and prisoners were taken by surprise. That think could talk! Raythor, more like being surprised by the fact that the creature was talking, was intrigued by the fact that it was talking to someone.

"Of course they fought back, spawn of the forgotten realms. Don´t forget that they are meridianites, and that this kingdom is a place of warriors." Said a raspy, but confident voice, while the speaker approached the scene.

"That voice!" thought Raythor and Frost at the same time. They knew that voice. They heard it in their camp-bases when they were among the Knights of Vengeance; they heard it sometimes in the court. Raythor remembered heard it screaming, during the battle of Kandrakar. The old veteran raised his head and sight from the ground, to meet someone that shouldn't be there. Meanwhile in his cell, Frost only could stare in disbelief and mutter only one word "Impossible…"

The same went for Cedric and Miranda, which also were quite shocked; albeit the sudden appearance of the figure had also calmed Cedric´s head. The shapeshipter smiled.

There, a strange sword used as a cane, in his usual attire and hat; the mark of Nerissa no longer in his chest; was Tracker, the undead hunter that had tormented the rebels and the people of Meridian for so long.

"Ridiculous…" was everything that Aldarn could say upon seeing the undead, which was walking towards the center of the prison hall.

"Impossible!" shouted Vathek, "You are dead! Drake destroyed you!"

Tracker directed his attention to Vathek, and approaching him, he looked down at the pinned blue Galhot. Tracker looked directly at the bulky man´s eyes. "I cannot die" said the undead, and directed himself again to the center of the room; leaving a speechless Vathek behind.

Then, Tracker raised his sword and, slamming it in the ground, created a wave of green flames that, at touching the energy bars of the cells, dispelled them, leaving every prisoner of the Infinite City free to go.

Then the undead directed himself to the now open cell of the deposed Prince, who was now exciting it, a smile adorning his face, and a confidence that even Phobos thought lost reforming inside him.

The two men met. "Ah, Tracker. To think that you of all people would remain the most loyal. Well, I suppose that I could regain my rightful throne again with your help, but now we must exit this place. That creature that you had carried whith you could be of help…" said the Prince stroking his chin, which looked thinner than normal.

"Not this again…" muttered Vathek, who was quite jaded of the Prince and other prisoners escaping under his guard. But his whining was interrupted when, suddenly, the Tracker hit the deposed prince in the face with the hilt of his sword; breaking his nose and sending him to the ground. Cedric almost shouted with laughter upon seeing that.

"What do you think you are doing, you unworthy freaky piece of shit!" shouted the Prince holding his bleeding nose, just for Tracker to kick him, this time in his guts.

"So it was true" mussed the undead "you are hollow, boy. Now you are not even worth the effort of being hunted as prey"; Phobos´ eyes shut open upon those words. How did he know?

"But" continued Tracker "magic cannot be destroyed. It can only be transferred, transported. Where did yours go?"

"If I may, I think that I know the answer to that"

Tracker twirled and saw Cedric now out of his cell; helping Miranda out too. The shapeshipter directed himself to the undead, and signaling to Aldarn, he said "If I could use him as an example?"

The creature looked at Tracker, but the undead just nodded in affirmation. The thing released Aldarn at Cedric´s feet; that proceeded to held the Lieutenant by his throat and raising it in the air by seer brute force. "Don´t worry, it will only last seconds" said Cedric, while his human tongue changed into one of a snake "but it will be incredibly painful, I assure you!"

And Aldarn screamed while the eyes of Cedric illuminated themselves with the spark of magic. Aldarn´s body started to become thinner and thinner; his skin going grey and wrinkled; his eyes losing their light. When Cedric ended, the only thing that was left of Aldarn was a saggy corpse of an old Galhot, his life drained from him completely.

Cedric stretched himself after throwing the lifeless deformed body to where Raythor and Vathek could see it. The old veteran closed his eyes in respect; the blue Galhot looked with hatred to Cedric.

"Quite impressive" said the Tracker, and Cedric made a little reverence in gratitude of the commentary.

"You will pay for that! You just wait until the Queen comes here! This time you will be executed for sure, you monster!" shouted the bulky soldier.

"Ah, but the Queen is not here today" said then Tracker "she is out, I the village of Kelliwic; isn´t she?"

"How do you know that?" asked Raythor to the undead.

"Who knows? Maybe I can read your minds. Or maybe…" the Tracker looked directly into Raythor´s eyes, the undead´s blood reddish eyes looking at the ones of the Galhot. "The court of Meridian is full of traitors"

The commentary made Raythor intensify his glare upon the undead. Was he telling the truth or lying?

"Cedric!" shouted Phobos from the ground "That power belongs to me! Give it back, you worthless rabble!" The voice of the former Prince sounded distorted due to his broken nose.

"Oh, you want it back?" Cedric extended his hand in Phobos´ direction, smiling. "Now, how was the word that that woman used? Oh, yes! Quintessence!" and from Cedric´s hand emanated a powerful torrent of lightning, that stroke Phobos and made him scream, burning his body and tattering even more his clothes. Cedric laughed at this. Miranda looked at her beloved and tightened her legs. Damn, she was getting exited upon the spectacle that Cedric was showcasing.

When Cedric finished, Phobos was emanating smoke from his burned body, and he was hugging himself in the ground, incapable of fighting back.

"The power of the fallen Nymph too?" asked Tracker, who didn´t even finch upon seeing the torture. "It seems that the universe has been generous with you, Cedric"

"Quite, I must admit. So, any plan or orders?" asked the snake

"Plan?" retorted Tracker who made a signal to one of the cells, from which his dog Sniffer came out upon his master´s call and positioned himself at Tracker side. "I plan to hunt for the moment. Also, I never was someone to give orders to others, not even now, as a hierophant. I am here to free you and my pet. If you want, picture a location in your head, and I will teleport you to it. But from there on? Do whatever you want."

Cedric smiled upon hearing this. Tracker was resulting into quite the surprise. "Miranda, do you know…?"

"Oh, I know just the place that you are thinking"

Cedric and Miranda smiled to each other and then looked back to Tracker, indicating that they were accepting his offer. "I probably never say this to anyone else in my life, Tracker, and I am also quite surprised that I am saying it to you, but… Thank you" And then the undead hit the floor with his sword and the two shapeshipter lovers were gone.

Then Tracker directed himself to the other prisoners. "Anyone else?" his raspy voice echoed throughout the room. The Lurdens were next. Tracker teleported them out, just like with the duo.

And then, just remained Frost. Frost, who hadn´t move of his cell. He looked at Tracker, then to the creature, and then to the still immobilized commanders. Then back to Tracker. "I´m not buying it" said the bounty-hunter. "You couldn´t possible come here and showcase all of this just to get your pet back and set us free without ordering us around. What the hell are you plotting?"

"I don´t need to plot, fellow hunter" said the undead, resting his hands into the hilt of his sword. "It doesn´t matter what they choose to do. It will favor me in the end."

"Then, I choose to stay and remain here" said Frost, exiting his cell, with Crimson by his side.

"If it is what you desire" ended Tracker. Then he and his dog turned around and walked towards the creature.

"Hierophant, you like to speak too much" hissed the living swarm of worms.

"Hum; maybe this time´s comeback to the realm of the living has left me more alive than before?" He directed himself to Raythor and Vathek while raising his sword. "Drake, was it? The man who tore me inside out. Say to him that I will hunt him down" Then the sword slammed against the stone of the prison floor for the last time; and the undead, the creature and the hound were gone; leaving only two defeated commanders; one reluctant bounty-hunter, a completely humiliated prince and dozens of corpses scattered on the ground.

Raythor got to his feet first, then Vathek. The veteran looked at the corpse of Aldarn again. He never liked Cedric, and considered him to be a heartless man (or beast), but this had been just petty and pure cruelness for the sake of it.

Frost just stood there, not wanting to be noticed so much. He had made his decision to stay, and luckily, the two men will leave him in peace for not escaping. At least for the moment.

Phobos couldn´t say the same. Vathek reached him and lifted him from the ground just with one hand. Raythor closed the eyes of the dead man whose life had been stolen, and directed himself to were his companion was lifting the former prince.

"You knew it, didn´t you?" asked the veteran "That Cedric had gained your powers. You had known it since the beginning"

The prince didn´t answer. He just remained silent for the majority of the moment. "Just kill me, please" come a whisper from Phobos´ mouth.

"Don´t temp me, you runt" was Vathek´s answer to the tyrant.

"Just leave him, Vathek. It could be a total waste of time and effort. He cannot escape from here. He is nothing now" said Raythor in a dry and cold tone; which made the blue Galhot release the prince from his grip and toss him to the ground.

"We must go and see if Tracker and that thing ruined something more in its way to here. I am worried about the men protecting the superior levels. And we also should sent message to the Queen in Kelliwick. She needs to be informed of this… carnage."

"You are right, Raythor. There are far more important things to do that waste time in this pathetic man." And the two commanders started to walk to the entrance.

"Frost" directed Raythor to the bounty-hunter. "If you had made that decision to gain the court´s favor, start helping the wounded that are still alive."

The bounty-hunter started immediately to help the wounded. Not even he lacked empathy for people injured in battle, especially if they were injured in such a manner.

Upon exiting the room, Raythor looked at Phobos, who was still in the ground. "The situation and hole that you are in now, was something that you created and dig with your very own hands; my prince"

To this, Phobos only grunted and dragged himself inside the shadows of his cell. There he let the pain to take totally hold of himself. And pained, the broken Prince of Meridian, the man that once sat at the top of the world, just cried.

* * *

Outside and far from the Infinite City, Cedric and Miranda were now in little abandoned house in the countryside; which had been built next to a field of blue and orange flowers. It had been of the property of Miranda´s family since generations. It looked abandoned now, but it will be a good start for the couple. Also, it was a special spot for them. After all, they had met there for the first time.

Miranda was quite nostalgic for returning there. She started to walk the house and its rooms, and finally encountered a little ring in a closet. It had been her mother´s property. The young shapeshipter put it into her finger and looked at her now decorated hand. I was a good ring, normal that mother liked it so much.

Meanwhile, Cedric was outside, waiting for her. When the girl exited the house, Cedric looked at her. "Can I show you something special?"

"Yes, of course" said Miranda, quite excited. Special for Cedric meant spectacular for her.

Cedric started to transform, but in the middle of the change, he put his two hands upon his chest. "Quintessence!" he shouted, and he changed into something totally different this time.

His upper body maintained the same structure and form than before; except that now it had a pair of dragon-like wings added in its back. The most notably difference was the lower body of the snake man. His tail was gone. In its place, there was now a pair of scaled lizard-like legs. His bestial form also looked a little smaller and thinner. Cedric roared, and from his mouth, a shock of Quintessence flew towards the skies. He had gone from snake, to dragon.

Miranda was speechless. "What? How have you…?"

"Quintessence is the energy of life. If Nerissa could use it to gave conscience to Sandpit or create sentient beings from ice and magma; I supposed that I could use it to change and evolve my bestial form"

"But why?"

"During my time in prison, I had enough time to think. When I was at my zenith, my body didn´t grow because I wanted to; like I did with you. Then I deducted that my form just adapted itself to the power; but that it didn´t do it quite well. That´s the reason I couldn´t showcase the whole power of two Hearths and an entire generation of Guardians"

"In other words, power got to your head, literally." said Miranda, also admiring Cedric´s new form.

"Likely. So, now that I have a form that is compatible with my new powers, I should be able to use them to a better extent than before. Also, I can complement the power that I gained from the fallen Guardian with Phobos´ siphoning abilities; which will allow me to not become a wrinkled version of myself; which is something that none of us would like, don´t you agree?

"Quite. One of the benefits of being a shapeshipter is that you don't grow older with the years. But that also means that you have to recharge; don´t you?"

Cedric looked at his hand and focused in the energy that was left in his body. "Indeed. I still had a fair amount of energy after draining that man at the prison; but the more I have the better. Then we will do something about the people that dared to stay in our way."

"There is a little and quite isolated village no far from here. Mom used to bring me there with her when we I was smaller. There is very little protection; the soldiers are not even trained guards, just volunteers. Even if it is destroyed, it could not be noted for months; if it´s noted that´s it."

"Well, then I think that we have our first objective" said Cedric stretching his new wings.

"Yes, but first, I want to do something to celebrate our freedom."

"And that would be?"

Then Miranda jumped, and kissed Cedric in his snake mouth, trying to have his snake… no, now DRAGON tongue inside her mouth. Which she accomplished.

When the kiss broke, the little shapeshipter girl threw herself to the flowered ground, lying by her back, looking at her lover, who was standing both monstrous and majestic.

"Now? And here?" asked Cedric. Miranda only nodded, with a little and mischievous smile in her face. "Well, why not?" Cedric started to return to his human form, but Miranda stopped him by shaking her head to the sides

"No…" said Miranda, looking at Cedric, with the eyes semi-closed, giving the man the best seductive look that she could manage to use. "Please… please in that form. Please, my love… For me." And at that final word, she opened her arms wide, welcoming the man.

And Cedric smiled to himself, and stretching his new and powerful wings, he leaned over Miranda; tearing her clothes apart and licking her, meanwhile the little girl was smiling and laughing happyly.

And for the first time in centuries; that day on Meridian, just like in the legends that mothers tell daughters to scare them, a dragon took a young lady´s maidenhood.

And the lady liked it.

 _When you mix with the wrong energy, there's bound to be an explosion. Pay attention and switch lanes when the signal changes. What's really real is ultimately revealed._ T.F. Hodge

* * *

 **Author notes: Well, that´s the third chapter. I quite enjoyed writing the battles (if what happened in Meridian can be called a battle); especially depicting the girls teamwork and portraying Will as a very good team leader, strategist and commander. Also, I wanted to show what kind of consequences could happen when someone attacks a group of magical girl warriors in their home and that someone does it seriously. This is a case of "reality ensues" or, like we say in my country "** ** _Que la realidad te de una bofetada_** **"; something like "reality hitting you in the face" in English. Taranee is wounded, Hay Lin has her hands burned trying to protect the innocent (and doing a fantastic job doing it, by the way); and there is a lot of death people. But I wanted to play the girls like a competent team that stays together, and that thinks and acts according to the situation. The only thing that they think when watching the MK I launching its attack it´s "safe the people. Destroy the enemy". In the next chapter, we will see the aftermath of this battle. Also, yes Sylva is a quite well mannered and polite man; but he is also a skilled mercenary and a man that likes violence. But he also likes the Kinks. If I had to compare him to some other fictional character, I would say that my Sylva is some sort of more colorful, violent and childish version of the Yoshikage Kira of Part Four of JJBA.**

 **Switching to Meridian, we get a sight to what Elyon is doing to "improve" her world. If you haven´t noticed it yet well, yes that building is a factory. That´s right folks; industrialization! Yeah, she is trying to industrialize Meridian. How will these actions be seeing by the people? Will be well-received or not?**

 **But, the plot of this chapter focus on the battle (or domination) of the Infinite City. We get a look on Raythor, and how is he doing. I wanted to put him in the previous chapter, but I didn´t knew how. But here he is, having experienced character development from previous seasons; and fighting tooth and nail, side by side, with the people that once he persecuted against a living nightmare.**

 **And yeah, Tracker appears, and everyone is shocked. They saw him dissolve ala Witch King of Angmar, of course they are shocked. So, he frees some of the previous enemies of the protagonist and insist them to do "whatever they want". And yes, I did that to Phobos. I told you that, for me, the character feels pathetic, esand that he had accomplished his role in the series. And Frost stays.**

 **And for last, we have Cedric and Miranda. Yes, I have empowered Cedric, giving him the powers of both Phobos and Nerissa. Also, he now has a more powered form (which I took from one of the forms that he takes early in the comic) and set him and his girlfriend free. "But wait, are they…?" Yep. "And Cedric is still in that dragon-like form…? Yep, Miranda likes it. "But she is just a little girl!" Yep, and Cedric can oscillate between twenty something and various decades or centuries old. "This is all kinds of wrong!" Yeah! PEDOPHILIA AND BESTIALITY! I told you all that the relationship and the love were genuine; but that they were pretty messed up.**

 **Also, I have noted that multiple fanfics tend to redeem one of the two if not both. And I am not going to do it. They are monsters, but they are not because they are shapeshipters, but because they are sick people. And when you play someone in your show as an antagonist and a psychopath (I regard the two of them as better villainous characters than Phobos), you let it an antagonist and a psychopath.**

 **Next chapter, we enter in the aftermath of the explosion, and the Riddle arc per se. I don´t know yet how to call that chapter. Also, I should start posting thinner author notes, because… oh boy!**

 **Until then, have pleasant days and nights, you who read this.**


	4. Chapter 4: Chess Masters

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH; it is the property of the mighty Disney Company**

 **Here we are, in the fourth chapter. I was planning to start the Riddle Arc properly speaking in this one… but I decided not to do it. Because in the Riddle arc I'm going to focus on the Guardians and let Meridian a little to the side. So I have decided that this chapter is going to be VERY LONG and that I am going to put in it the aftermath of the battle of the girls; the aftermath of the battle in the Infinite City; and I am going to show Kandrakar… in a way… All to let everything set to the Riddle arc.**

 **That said, onto the chapter. Enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

* * *

 **I have made some changes to the chapter since the update. Some grammar errors that I didn't notice. Also; thanks to Spartangal22 for being my first reviewer and to mavlovesblu for being my first follower; your words and attention is appreciated**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter four: Chess masters

 ** _The world of Earth. December 20_** ** _th_** ** _. Monday night._**

Hay Lin found herself in some sort of void of a light grey color. She was floating in it without direction. She felt good, like being in some sort of giant cloud. She then noticed that she wasn't alone. With her were her friends, the four of them. They looked happy. And Hay Lin smiled to them.

Then more people started to appear in the void. There were luminous people. The majority of them were women. They saluted to them, and, without knowing why, Hay Lin and her friends did the same. The Air Guardian noticed then that she and her friends were luminous too. It was good being luminous for some reason. The quintet of Guardians was as luminous as each one of the others.

A little luminous figure approached them and, taking Cornelia from the hands, she started to play with her. "Lillian" thought Hay Lin, because she was unable to speak. "That's Lillian. Then, those are…"

Hearths. They were Hearths of worlds, all of them dancing around them. "If they are Hearths…" Hay Lin looked around, looking for someone. Until she saw Elyon, in a luminous form too, but identifiable by her two regal braids that she maintained even in the world of dreams. She saluted to Elyon and she did the shame. But Elyon was not dancing with the others. She rested importance to this and danced with her friends and the others luminous figures. Then the happiness broke.

Something metallic rose from Lillian's shadow, like a medieval man in armor; and grabbing the five girls, it dragged them out of the center of the dance. Hay Lin tried to ask for help, but then, another figure rose, this time from Elyon's shadow. This one carried a sword, and with it, stabbed Elyon in the back, piercing her hearth and killing her. Elyon's corpse fell to the ground and, from the hole that had left the sword in her chest, darkness poured out, and started to envelop the void, covering it in black.

The darkness started pursuing the luminous people, who fought back. Then, the darkness took the shape of four figures still connected to the great mass of blackness, and they were so big that the luminous people looked insignificant, almost like fireflies in comparison with them. They took one of the luminous people and destroyed her like some child tears of a piece of paper.

Hay Lin wanted to help, but the metal man was holding her with so much strength that she couldn't move. The same for her four companions. Lillian was crying. Everyone was crying, including the metal man, for some reason.

And then Hay Lin looked at her hands and they were bleeding; practically mutilated, burned to the point that she could see her finger bones. Then the darkness engulfed everything. And the only thing that she felt was despair.

Then the dream ended; and for the first time in Hay Lin's life; forgotten.

Hay Lin found herself in a bed. She was in a white room. She felt heavy in her legs for some reason. She looked down and saw Irma, of all people, sleeping while sitting in a chair to the side of her bed; her head resting in the bottom of it, almost over the chinese girl's legs.

Hay Lin then remembered the mall; and the robot. And the people scattered around, without breathing. And also the people outside, who were still breathing. Her head not wanting to think more, Hay Lin smiled upon looking at Irma and felt sleep again. This time without strange dreams.

* * *

Nigel Ashcroft, who considered himself something similar to Taranee's boyfriend, the teenager boy rushed for the halls of the Heatherfield General Hospital. The building was in chaos. There were doctors and nurses running from every direction to another; moving several patients in bad conditions in stretchers around.

He had been working at his Christmas vacation job as a pizza delivering boy for most of the afternoon since finishing classes; and was just returning home when Peter Cook, Taranee's big brother, called him and told him about the situation. And so, he rushed to the Hospital.

He was now looking for Taranee, or for whoever who could indicate where she was. Eventually, he found Peter, outside a resting room. The basket player told him that, since Taranee wasn´t so injured in comparison to the other victims, she was automatically designed to a normal, resting room after her ribs got "patched". With her were her parents; Lionel and Theresa Cook. Taranee was currently sleeping.

"Come, let's go inside" said Peter; and he two young men entered the room. While Lionel looked at them, Theresa didn't raise her sight from her daughter. Nigel directed himself to Lionel and asked him how was Taranee.

"She is… better, way better than the other people. Apparently, Hay Lin has her hands severally wasted" said the man. "Taranee has just various ribs broken, apparently due to an impact. The doctors attribute it to the wave that an explosion generates. The other girls are pretty good. The explosion caught them when they were practically out of the mall. I suppose that that's what saved them and everybody else that is here."

Lionel looked like collapsing over himself. For such a big man; he was looking terrible, bowed, defeated. He used to box in his university days. Not even the strongest fist that he took those days seemed to hurt like that situation. And this time, there was no one else to punch for it.

"Thank you for coming, Nigel" said the big man with a smile. The appearance of the young teen made him feel better. More assured.

Theresa hadn´t even realized that Nigel was there. She was just looking at Taranee like an owl; continuously vigilant, looking for something to go wrong. For someone as planning as a prosecutor; this kind of situations, that were abrupt, just dissembled everything in her head, making her feel… impotent.

And she wasn´t the only one.

* * *

In one of the most cleared hallways of the chaotic hospital, Will and Cornelia were expecting some kind of news about her friends. Cornelia had her arms crossed over her chest; legs semi-crossed, standing and leaning over a wall. She was the one that had exited the conflict best.

Will was sitting in the ground, legs drawn in the usual "Indian style"; her hands clasped over her face and mouth to help her head stand. She had been given with a bag of ice by the doctors but she had casted it aside. She was currently thinking, while expecting for news about her friends.

"Will…" started Cornelia.

"I'm thinking" said the redhead.

Cornelia dropped to the floor and, sitting herself next to Will, asked her friend "Then speak to me, explain to me what are you thinking" Will looked at her, dissembled her hands and, taking a deep breath while closing her eyes, she spoke.

"That thing, the machine, someone must have programmed it. It didn´t attack until it saw us. And also, there is the thing about that static sound that I heard and the fact that I couldn´t use Quintessence in it… I don't like it, Cornelia. Someone is behind this… madness; and is resourceful"

"Well, let me summarize. Someone is behind of the attack of the robot. Someone resourceful enough to build a thing like that, and (this is something that you let out) hide it from the public. That's not something that every person in this world can do"

"What if it is from another world?"

"Uhm… I don't think so. Enemies from other worlds, at least the ones that we had fought, tend to attack us with magical forces; and while doing it trying to destroy us, they try to destroy solely us. They didn't seem interested in other human lives. I suppose that the absence of magic from Earth makes us look… insignificant as a whole. This thing looks to me that something that was equally directed to us and the people."

"Agh, now I like it even less, Cornelia" stated the redhead.

"Why?" asked the blonde.

"Because it means that that thing wasn't only programmed to attack us, but also inflect the most possible collateral damage. And it means that we can now possibly add one of these two new things to the list of what we know. Either our enemy doesn't care about collateral damage, or it wanted watch us react to collateral damage"

"But that means that…"

"That the attack was a test. Someone is testing us, and we are reacting. I don't like reacting, Cornelia. It makes me feel like I am moving exactly like my adversary wants me to move"

"So, what we do next?"

"First? We rest and recharge. Then we move, we act and we pressure. I will not let what happened with Nerissa and Cedric to happen again. We will not wait for the attack. Now is our turn of moving"

"Do you think that it will be a good idea to contact Kandrakar?"

"Yes" said Will, after pondering a little. "The Oracle will be interested in this without a doubt"

Then, the two friends fell silent and Will rested her head in Cornelia's shoulder. The Earth Guardian started to speak to the air.

"Why can't we have a rest? Just a little one; without evil tyrants or mad sorceress or… or fucking robots or something coming out of a nightmare to eat us. Why not?" Will knew no answer to that.

They stayed like that until they saw a familiar figure approaching them.

* * *

Back in Hay Lin's room, someone had just awakened Irma from her sleep. The Water Guardian raised her head from the bed slowly and looked around. There was Yan Lin, Hay Lin's grandmother, with her usual chinese like robe. But her hair was not in its usual topknot; but let completely free, showing that if let that way, grandchild and grandmother had more in common than being Air Guardians.

The chinese elder helped the young Water Guardian to stand up from her seat. They stared into each other a little; just for Yan Lin to take the seat of the youngster. Irma stood behind her, the two of them looking at a sleeping Hay Lin.

"What happened?" asked the elder. Her voice lacked its usual optimistic tone. It looked tired, almost like if all the years that Yan Lin had at her back were finally taking tool in her.

"A robot, I know that it sounds ridiculous, attacked us. But it wasn't like one of those robots of cartoons, it was… nightmarish. We beat it, but Hay Lin and Tara got hurt. Hay Lin saved a lot of people. Practically everyone that is here besides us five owns their lives to what she did. She just stood there and stopped an attack. Sometimes she surprises me with everything she does and the natural way that she does it."

"Yes, I suppose that that's her nature. Always thinking first about others; rather than thinking about herself. But that doesn´t surprise me." continued the elder woman, still looking at Hay Lin "Do you know that, when she was just five years old, my granddaughter spotted a harmed squirrel trapped between two brands of a big tree? Do you know what she did? She climbed the tree. She fell to the ground a lot of times, but she finally did it. She "rescued" the squirrel and then she jumped with the animal in her arms back to the ground. Of course, that hurt a lot. I still remember the terrified face that my son made when she saw Hay Lin coming back to us, full of scratches. My son, of course, shouted to her and inquired what was she thinking and doing. He said that she could have killed herself. Then Hay Lin extended her arms and showed us the little mammal in her palms. Then she smiled and said "But I saved the squirrel!" From that moment I had known that if doesn't matter who is in pain or danger, or how much it takes to help; my little Hay Lin will do for them the same that she did for that little animal. It's not surprising. My granddaughter is strong."

"Yes…" said Irma, assimilating what she just heard. "That sounds exactly like her; doesn't it? Our brave airhead, always jumping the first to the call"

Yan Lin nodded. "I have come here with Cassidy. I heard that your father had to go back to the patrols and that your family is at home. If you like to, Cassidy is outside and she can ride you to your house. Since I will be staying here with Hay Lin, I won't need her to take me back."

"Aren't… aren't her parents coming?" asked Irma.

"No. Apparently, not even an explosion and hundreds of dead people stop a massive bunch of glutton and egotistical businessmen from eating. Fortunately this is the last day of work until January, especially with what had happened today. So I am here alone. Not even my sister is coming. Thank you for staying with her until now" said Yan Lin referring to her double created by Nerissa that was now posing as her long lost sister.

"It was nothing, really. She would have done the same for me"; and then Irma exited the room. Upon crossing the door, she looked back and saw Yan Lin stroking Hay Lin's hair peacefully with her right hand while the left one was at centimeters from touching the young girl's hands, but stopped. Irma let the door close.

She found Cassidy, her own predecessor as Water Guardian that had been brought back to life; in the same place that Will and Cornelia had been waiting for their families. The three of them looked to Irma.

"Hay Lin is out of danger, at least that's what the doctor said to me when he left the two of us in the room. Yan Lin is with her right now. She will stay here with her the whole night. What do we know about Tara?"

"Her whole family is with her" answered Cornelia "I think that it's just her ribs, nothing more. I suppose that in a few days she will be out. About Hay Lin, I don't know how long will take. I suppose that the Guardian powers that we keep in human form will help the two of them to recover but… I don't really know"

"I think that the best we can do now is going home. Here we are only occupying space. My mother, Dean and Mister Hale must be almost here, and Cassidy can ride you back…" suggested Will.

"Yes, Yan Lin informed me" Irma directed herself to Cassidy. "If it's not so much trouble…"

"It is not. Come on, all of you need to rest." said Cassidy. She and Irma headed to the parking. When they were approaching the retired Guardian's car, they saw Miss Vandom and Mister Collins arriving and exiting their car. Irma indicated were Will and Cornelia were waiting. Harold Hale arrived only by seconds of difference and headed in the same direction.

The two women entered the car and exited the parking, Cassidy driving in base to Irma's indications on how to reach her house. When the route was established, Irma made a question that she always wanted to make to Cassidy.

"Cassidy, tell me, when you were a Guardian; with Yan Lin and the others, did… something like this happen to you?"

Cassidy pondered for a little while driving. "Look Irma, being a Guardian means that sometimes… you cannot safe everyone. Or that for saving everyone, sometimes you have to do things that you are not comfortable with"

Irma assimilated the implications of what she just has heard. "Cassidy did you… eh…"

"Killed someone? Yes." ended for her the previous Guardian, more bluntly that the young one was expecting. "It wasn't pretty, and it was something that no one of us five was proud about; not even Nerissa; and in those days she was already switching to that crap about the end justifying the means"

"Why? I mean, not about feeling like that but; why did you killed someone?"

"Remember Phobos?" Irma nodded. "Do you know why the Guardians could intervene in Meridian with that problem, or why was a Veil covering it?" Irma didn't answer. She really didn't know about it. Not that she had questioned it until now.

"Well, you see; it's because Phobos was a danger to the rest of the universe. Kandrakar knew that, once he had conquered Meridian, he was going to go for other worlds. Well, at least that was what the Mage told them; and the Mage was Nerissa back then; but that was the primal reason. When Kandrakar steps in, is to maintain the peace of the universe. It is expected that a world can maintain its own peace. That's why every world has a Hearth. The only reason that you were allowed to kept going to Meridian and dealt with those Knights of Vengeance after the veil was lowered was because Elyon permitted it."

"What does that have to do with you killing someone?" Irma asked, sounded more rush than intended.

"Well, what do you think that happens when there is someone that is not a danger to the universe, that is the rightful ruler of his world, but that is a danger to the people, someone that is just a tyrant, but not a conqueror? We have no rights to interfere there. It is not Kandrakar's business; not officially. So the Oracle and us… cheated. We made a reunion in Kandrakar with the aforementioned tyrant and, after we permitted him to return to his home like we were in peace with him, we… make it look like he was killed by the people of his own world rather than us. But, yes, we killed someone, and in a rather, eh… dirty way. We saved lives, we got rid of a monster, but… the fact that we took a life when we were not allowed and using trickery is there; and always will be there."

"Who was he?" asked the younger woman.

"One of the previous Warrior-Emperors of the world of Basilade; whose name I don't even remember. But I know that he had family back then. I don't know what happened to them after we left. Why are you so interested?" asked Cassidy while parking. They had arrived to Irma's house.

The young Water Guardian exited the car and, after thanking Cassidy for taking her home, she said "After all of this… I don't know what I would do if I get my hands in the bastard or bastards that sent that thing after us. After seeing Hay-Hay's hands and knowing what happened to Tara… I don't know. Thank you for the talk, anyway. And for the trip back home"

"Irma" Cassidy stopped her "look, when someone hurts your companions, the first thought that gets inside your head is "revenge". But believe me; if I could go back and tell to my younger self to think two times the decisions that we made in a rush, or to think about the decisions that others made for us; I could gladly do it. And probably slap myself in the face for being an idiot. I don't really know, I suppose that is part of being a Guardian"

Irma nodded and went to her house's door and, after entering it, hugged her mother, Ana Lair; and she just sat in the sofa with her younger brother Chris, not wanting to remember or debate anything else about that day with anyone else.

Back in the car; Cassidy drove back to her home. She thought about Irma's words. Then about a raven haired girl that she used to call friend; that in her memory was swimming with her in a cave that connected to the sea. "Do you think that I am a bad person? Would you still love if I do something bad?" those words still echoed in Cassidy's memories. Cassidy sighed; she was tired too.

"I hope that they don't turn out like us, Nissa. I really hope so."

* * *

In the Hale residence; back from the hospital, Cornelia had opted for the same strategy than Irma; but her sister, Lillian, was currently sleeping. The Earth Guardian made herself to her younger sister room and, after entering it, she leaned over the sleeping Lillian and kissed her forehead.

The younger Hale sibling mussed in her sleep and, half-awakened, noted that her big sister was in her room. "Hey Cornelia. Did you buy me something beautiful for Christmas?"

Cornelia stroked Lillian's hair. "Yeah, you are going to love it", not mentioning, of course, that the presents were probably ashes by now.

Then the little Hale fell asleep again. Cornelia just stood there, watching the young one sleep without troubles, without problems. Then a little black cat, Napoleon, Lillian's pet and also one of the three Regents of Earth; jumped from his sleeping spot directly into the older Hale's shoulder.

"Hard day, eh little girl?" said the talking cat.

Cornelia patted the animal in the head. "You have no idea cat; really no idea" And after keeping watch of her little sister a little longer; Cornelia exited the room of the little one and let her sleep.

Unknown to Cornelia, Lillian was singing in her sleep, humming and smiling.

It was an old, happy and rare song; sang by a grumpy old man and a female clown near the sea, who visited Lillian in her dreams; and taught her about singing and dancing; and words and forms that people in Earth had forgotten long ago. The time was coming near. The child must be prepared; for when the storm hits.

* * *

In the Vandoms' residence, Will was currently in her bed. Still dressed in her trousers and her shirt; she had only take off her shoes; and she had simply put herself in top of her bed. Just staying like that, looking at the ceiling.

Downstairs, Dean and Susan had tried to talk with her; to no use. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk; but that she really was tired. Both her mother and Dean didn't want to pressure her so, after arriving home; she just went to her room; just being in bed doing… nothing at all. It was good, not thinking, not moving. Just being. She liked her bed, for some reason. She never thought about that until that moment. The reason that she liked

A few noises came from her window. Will knew what those noises meant. She got up from her bed; and not even troubling herself with putting into some sort of footwear; she opened her window and climbed her way up the rooftop of her house.

There, in her Regent form, was Matt Olsen. They had been having these meetings since Matt got his Regent form and Nerissa and the other villains were put out of business. They had been quite funny; usually dedicated to "romantic" matters. This time, though, the matters of the meeting were totally different. And of course, this time Will had been the one to call.

Will just sat down in the border of the roof, with her feet moving in the air. Matt was standing behind her, regaining his human, teenager form. He sat by his side.

"How is everybody?" asked concerned Matt.

"Hay Lin has taken the worst part. Taranee has some ribs broken… nothing that medical treatment and our supporting abilities as Guardians cannot cure. I bet that the two of them will be out for New Year."

"I am not asking just about them." said Matt.

Will's gaze lowered. "After the medical treatment and not counting us, the only ones left alive are… forty seven, I think. Forty seven, Matt. There were… hundreds in the mall today. This…" tears started to drop from Will eyes "This is too much… it's just too cruel" Will started to cry. She had been holding back the whole day, trying to discern a reason behind all that happened. But there was no reason. There was no more logic to the attack that someone wanting to throw something at them and wanting to see what happens after that. "We should have done better… I should have distracted that thing, or teleported it, or…"

"Will" Matt interrupted her

"Or attack it better, or not have lowered the guard after we thought that it was out…"

"WILL!" shouted Matt; gaining the redhead's attention. "Look, you say forty seven, right? Those forty seven; if you hadn't act as quick as you did, would be zero. Okay? There is nothing worth in thinking on what could have been. We are here, this is now and we continue breathing. That's what is important." Will stopped crying. "You all did a very god job"

"I… I know. It's just… this is nothing that I am accustomed at! Phobos sent his agents only after us; Nerissa did the same! This… I don't like it."

"Will, no one likes it. There are people talking about terrorist attacks. Talking of how they don't know what the hell is going on. They are afraid. Afraid just because another idiotic megalomaniac is delusional about conquering the universe or something."

Will stared into her boyfriend's face. The she swiped the tears from her eyes and, standing up; she concentrated.

"Will?" asked her Matt, a little confused.

"Keep silence Matt, I'm concentrating" Will breathed strongly.

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Concentrate.

Concentrate in the flow. In every spark, every screen; every light bulb; every cable in this city.

Will's eyes flashed with Quintessence. This was actually rather difficult and complicated while not being in Guardian form. She needed the utmost concentration. In that state, Will could feel everything in the city that operated with electrical energy. The electricity went underground, and she could see it dwelling trough the cables like some sort of brilliant river. Then she followed the energy river while its travel for the city. The houses, the Sheffield Institute, the hospital, the Silver Dragon. The mall.

She then noted that she had been right. That static sound, it was there. Weaken, but still there; like a stain of "unnatural" in the river of energy. She looked around the city. She noted that there were more stains, all of them following in the same direction. She followed them with her sight; until she reached the port. Then she hit some sort of "wall" made of the same stain of "unnatural". It was even stronger that the one that she felt at the mall. She couldn't put up with it in human form and fell backwards, right into her butt.

"Will?" asked Matt again. He had no idea what the heck was that about.

"Sorry, just scanning the city. It's still too stressing to do it in human form, but I am getting better."

"Since when can you do that?" asked an even more confused Matt.

"Since the girls and I returned to being us from our… _elemental form_." Answered the redhead, putting emphasis in the last two words. None of the girls liked to think about it. About almost losing their humanity. "I asked the Oracle, Himerish, about how to control my powers in a better way. He taught me how to use meditation to better my control and… this is the result. I can see the flow of energy of almost everything. Not only machines, but also people; though that is a little more complicated; and sometimes annoying."

"Annoying?" asked Matt, standing up. He had been sitting through the whole conversation.

"Yeah. You see, normal people are like light bulbs. My mom, and Dean, for example. Yan Lin and Cassidy are a little brighter. I suppose that it has to do with being an ex-Guardian. Once I looked at Taranee with it and she was like a living mass of golden fire. And then, one day, I said: Why not look at Lillian with my new super-vision? And I almost got blinded"

"Really? Is she that much?" said Matt.

"Like a sun in miniature. But with the robot, I felt nothing but a static sound. Like there was no real energy powering it, but… some sort of "no-energy". And you know what? I have found the same sensation back in the ports of the city; near the ocean. I was the same, just… cranked up. If there is somewhere that we should investigate…"

"It could be there, right" Matt transformed back to his Regent form, his musculature hulking and a pair of wings popping out his back. "I will tell Napoleon and Huggles about it. This new enemy could be also dangerous to Lillian and the Earth. It is also our responsibility"

"We were planning on getting in contact with Kandrakar. Maybe the Oracle and the Council can get us some back up. It could be nice to know what are we us against this time. As long as the girls recover we will investigate it."

"Then you should get back to bed" said Matt while taking off and start to fly "it cannot be good for your health to stay there without shoes and in winter."

"Yes _mom_ …" mocked Will and she started to climb back to her room. Once there, she get in her pajamas and entered her bed. She felt much better. Maybe she really needed talking. Good that Matt was there. Matt was always there. Supporting but knowing to respect her space. Caring, but no controlling. She really was lucky.

"Tomorrow I will speak with Mom and Dean. Man, they really should have felt worried about me" She turned herself on the bed and her thoughts sifted to the unknown figure that had sent the robot. "I don't know who you are; but I will find you. We will find you. We will react to this, even if I don't like it. I promise you, whoever you are and wherever you are; that you will pay"

Wilhelmina Vandom fell asleep, quite tranquilly having in consideration all that had happened that day. In truth, she was really a lucky person.

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian. Several hours after the attack in the Infinite City_**

In the City of Kelliwic, there was a platform that had been built in front of a very big building that was covered in a banquet. In the platform, there were several ministers, the entirety of the engineers and architects staffs and of course, the Queen's Guard and Personal Maiden, and the Queen herself.

Around the platform a mob that included almost everyone in the city gathered; all of them expectant to listen to their Queen. Then Elyon approached the border of the platform and directed herself to the crow. The inhabitants of Kelliwick were expecting some sort of grandiloquent speech, about the crown and about the Queen or about hope or about improvement. Instead, the Queen looked around and directing herself to the crow she just made a question:

"Men and women of Kelliwick! Tell me, what is your occupation in this kingdom?! What is your way of life?!"

The crow was taken by surprise. But after a few seconds, an old man that had spend his whole life in the city; that had been living by the pick and the shovel all his life and had been proud of it; answered:

"We are miners!" said the elderly man, driving with him the majority of the crow. "Yes, we are miners! We work the land, the stone and the metal!"

Elyon smiled a little after that reaction. "And tell me, who took that responsibility from you? Who despised generations of proud workers, entire families dedicated to the task of mining? Who relegated Kelliwick to nothing more than another spot in the maps?!" asked the Queen.

"The tyrant! Phobos did it!" shouted the majority of the crow. Even with the conflict ended, the pain that Phobos had caused was still persistent in the hearths of the people. Thirteen years of suffering are not forgotten overnight.

"Yes, my _brother_ did it" continued Elyon. Caleb was taken a little by that. He never had heard the Queen call Phobos brother. "My brother stole that right; that pride from you! Why did he? Was he a monster; a psychopath?! No. It was not because of that" this statement confused the crowd.

"My brother… was a weak man! We royals have a duty with our people! My brother… he simply discarded that duty. He abandoned you, because he was not at the level of the task! But I will not abandon you, I will not betray you!" While shouting to the crow, the giant mantle that covered the building begun to drop; showing what was under it.

It was a large, silver colored metallic building. It had multiple chimneys popping out of it. Inside of it, smelters and other variety of ovens and machinery started to function. Smoke started to rise from the chimneys outside. The crowd, but also the ministers, Caleb, Drake and Tynar looked a little perplexed at this. The engineers not, of course; this had been their handwork.

"I will stand for you, I will help you improve and upgrade! I will be the Queen that this world needs and deserves! So, believe in me; miners on Kelliwick! If mining is your life, this construct, this factory; has been made for you to mine! Feel proud about what you accomplish! Use it to make amends for all the years that my brother negated your role in Meridian! And make sure that no one will even question again that there is no better miners that the ones of Kelliwick! This kingdom needs you! Stand strong and proud for it!"

The speech of the Queen ended, and the crowd burst into cheers. "All Hail Queen Elyon!" exclaimed the crowd. Then, after a few minutes of cheering, the crowd calmed and ended dispersing itself. The people of Kelliwick were enthusiastic. The members of the Court descended from the platform, and a few of the engineers and the ministers were directed by Elyon to stay in the city in order to make the factory work as smooth as possible. With the factory and the speech that she had directed to the people; the extraction and treatment of several essential minerals will surely improve. Also, it could not be necessary to transfer the materials from Kelliwick to other towns for the treatment to transform them in iron or gold bars; since with the factory, it could be done right there in Kelliwick, thus ensuring some decrease in transporting taxes. That statement was enough to have the ministers that were moved solely for financial gaining eating of her palm. Same for the engineers; if you let them permission to invent, they could built a bridge and threw themselves from it if ordered.

The personal guard of the Queen escorted her to her carriage, preparing the convoy to return to the capital. This has been only the first step. There were three more to go. And when finished, her world, her kingdom, would improve.

Caleb was fairly impressed. Maybe his concerns were unfounded. Maybe his Queen was just trying to do her best. Maybe the coldness was just a result of the stress. Still he should talk with Cornelia. It wasn't normal that the first time in weeks that Elyon had smiled was due to a crowd roaring her name because of the inauguration of a building, no matter how useful it was.

The something drew the young man's attention. A falcon messenger flew towards them. Caleb recognized it. It was Vathek's; the blue Galhot used to make use of it to transfer information to the rebellion when he was a spy in the palace.

The animal alighted in Caleb's arm. The commander noted that there was a message in the bird's leg. Caleb unfolded it and read. Then, when he finished, he ran to Elyon and lend the paper to her. The Queen read too, and after making a little scowl, she directed herself to the members of the Court.

"Minister Claudas" said Elyon, directing herself to one of her most trusted ministers. "Urgent business requires me and my Guard back on the capital. You and the rest of ministers will return in the convoy; but the commanders, Irvine and I will teleport to there. Until you reach the capital you are in command and responsibility of the ministers. Don't disappoint me."

"Understood, my Queen" answered Claudas.

Then Tynar, Drake, Caleb and Irvine formed a circle around the Queen. Concentrating, Elyon pictured her destination in her head and, raising her palms and clapping them, the aforementioned four people and her disappeared in greenish flash; leaving a confused look in some of the ministers.

* * *

Back in the capital; Raythor and Vathek had called for the majority of the high commands of the militia. That included Julian, who was now putting a comforting hand over the blue man's shoulder; trying to console his friend.

They had lost dozens of Guards and other good men that had joined after the rebellion ended. The creature had not even bothered with eating them. They were all splattered; their weapons and armors hadn't done anything to protect them. While the creature that had accompanied Tracker had taken its time killing the platoon guarding the prison, it had killed these ones so quick that they lacked the time to react. Also, the survivors would surely be unable to raise a weapon again in their lives. It had been a complete massacre. And of course, there was the fact that; besides Phobos, every prisoner in the Infinite City had escaped. They didn't know if that fact made things worst or better.

Currently, there were five of ten of the commanders in the room. Vathek and Raythor were there, of course; and also Julian. The other two were a former village chief turned rebel; that now was the one in charge of the barracks and the new soldiers training and exhibited a thick moustache and an eye patch in his left eye; and also a Galhot no much older than the late Aldarn; except with darker skin. Their names were Guiron and Gorlois, respectively.

The ones that had still to come were, of course, the ones that had accompanied the Queen to Kelliwick; Caleb, Drake and Tynar; but also captain Alborn; who was running late. And of course, Aldarn's seat was empty.

They were currently seating at a large table in the throne room; waiting, no one really wanting to start a conversation. Gorlois still had a tense relationship with Raythor due to… his previous employers. And Guiron never was a man of many words. After various minutes; the door of the large room opened, and Alborn entered; assuming his seat.

"How is Captain Miridiael doing?" asked Julian to the newcomer.

"Recovering, little by little. She is doing quite fine; thank you for your concern Julian" answered the man, but Julian could tell that he was not telling everything.

Before the middle aged man could inquire again, a greenish flash illuminated the room; and each one of the remaining parts of the high command appeared in their seats; including his own son. And of course, the Queen was presiding, with Irvine standing up at her left.

The Queen eyed every member at the table. "Report, now, fast" ordered her.

"Wait, shouldn't we wait for Aldarn?" suggested Caleb. Julian looked at his son with sad eyes, and Vathek and Raythor exchanged gazes. The veteran soldier stood up.

"My Queen, gentlemen; not many hours ago, the prison at the Infinite City that held many of Meridian's most dangerous prisoners was attached by some sort of beast. It was large, strong and fast. It looked like it was composed of black worms. It took us by surprise and dominated us within minutes. Then, another intruder got in the prison and freed the entire group of prisoners. The majority escaped thanks to him. We lost numerous men… including Lieutenant Aldarn."

The veteran made a pause, letting his words sink within the presents. Especially in Caleb. It was public knowledge that Aldarn and him had been friends since childhood. There were even rumors that the young Galhot made himself part of the rebellion in order to support his friend. And now he was dead. And Caleb looked furious.

Closing his eyes, Caleb's hand tightened around the armrests of his seat. It looked that they were going to be torn apart just by his seer brute force. "Who was the other intruder?"

"This is the most… nerve-racking part. The other intruder, and apparently the one that commanded the creature was…" Raythor eyes now looked into Drake's "the Tracker"

"What?!" exclaimed at unison Drake, Julian and Caleb. Tynar looked too shocked to show a reaction. The shame could be said about Alborn and Gorlois. Guiron looked quite calm, though.

"If I recall correctly" started the Queen "the Tracker was slain during Kandrakar's battle; by Drake, no less." Said Elyon pointing to the young man.

"I said the same when I saw him, my Queen" it was Vathek this time, speaking from his seat. "But he replied that he cannot die. I must add that he seemed… rather interested in you Drake. He said that he would hunt you; for killing him, I assume. It's still hard to believe"

"I wouldn't say. Almost all of us didn't believe it when Raythor came back from the Abyss of Shadows, and here he is. I suppose that people coming back to life is not so surprising these days" said Gorlois in a mocking tone.

Raythor scolded at him, but went back to his report. "Once we were defeated by his creature, Tracker used some sort of magical sword to dispel the energy bars that held the prisoners in their cells. Then he preceded to teleport the majority of them away. I don't know where, though."

"Was his intention to free my brother?" asked Elyon, causing a strange look to her from her adoptive father.

"No; that is something sure. He freed Cedric, Miranda and the Lurdens. But when Phobos approached him Tracker hit him; just for the humiliation"

"And now I like that undead a little more" mocked again Gorlois, this time receiving a silencing gesture from his Queen.

"Currently, the prince is still in his cell; and Frost the Hunter has stayed… at his own will, no less. I don't know if he did it because he despises the Tracker or because he wants to gain the Court's pardon; but now he is being hold in one of the normal cells in the dungeons of the castle"

"Something more, captain?" asked the Queen.

"The one who… killed Lieutenant Aldarn, wasn't Tracker or the creature. It was Cedric." Caleb's gaze turned to the veteran soldier. The young man's eyes screamed and flared with hate. The fact that he hated the snake man the most was no secret. "He holds now the power of siphoning energy that Phobos possessed. He used it to… drain Aldarn of his life force, I think. It was despicable."

"There is more" continued Vathek. "This is especially important to you two, Caleb, Julian. Not only Cedric had the power of Phobos, but also he demonstrated to hold the same power as Nerissa and the leader Guardian"

This took everyone by surprise. "Quintessence, are you sure?" asked the Queen. The two Galhots nodded. "Strange. I could understand that he could retain my brother's magical abilities after losing to the Guardians, but also Nerissa's signature ability? This is something that Kandrakar must know about. Irvine, I need you to sent message to Kandrakar. Tell them that I request a meeting"

"I will make preparations to send a message to the Oracle, my Queen" said the maid, with a plain and dull voice, and excited the room.

"So, to summarize" said Tynar "Albeit that a now powerless Phobos and Frost the Hunter are still in our custody; the whole Lurden group; Tracker and a new monstrosity, and also Miranda and an empowered Cedric are now at large and each one of them working to their own ends."

The group felt silent. It was not a very good perspective. Then it was Guiron's turn to speak. "Captain Raythor" started the Galhot in a very respectful tone, which added to his deep voice, conferred an air of tranquility to the man "you are the one of us that knows better than anyone how both Cedric and Tracker operate. What can you tell us?"

"Cedric is a smug, despicable but intelligent foe. Now that he has no one to order him around I suppose that he would lay low until he gathers more power or allies. About Tracker I know actually very little. But he is not someone to give orders. He was working for Phobos because he let him hunt. That's all I know. The only one that actually knows from where it came would be…"

"My brother" ended the Queen. "Well, I suppose that the meeting has ended. Each one of you should return to their own duties until I receive an answer from Kandrakar. That creature's description doesn't look like something that is from this world; which means that Tracker could have help from outside; it wouldn't be the first time that someone uses a distraction while playing behind the scenes. Also, Drake, I would like to you not to abandon the castle or the barracks for precaution if you are one of Tracker's top objectives. Captain Raythor, I would like you to move Sandpit and Gargoyle to the outskirts of the capital to have a strong first defense line in case Cedric attacks." The Queen made a pause while rising from her seat.

"I will go and talk with my brother, to see if he has some information about Tracker that we lack and can be used." Then she noted Alborn approaching her "I will go _alone_ , _Captain Alborn,_ you already have your assignment" said Elyon to him.

"Er… of course, your majesty" said to that the captain, just before her adoptive daughter teleported.

The each one of them started to dispel, but Drake then said. "Aldarn's father should know that…"

"I will go and tell him. It's my responsibility, as Aldarn's captain and friend" said Caleb, and exited the room followed by his father.

The other officials exited to, and directed themselves to their posts. Vathek was then let alone in the room with Tynar. The later rose from his seat and, approaching Vathek, lend the still sat down Galhot a little liquor bottle that he always carried. The blue enormous man swallowed it at once.

"It is a crime against nature that the older like us outlive some ones as young as Aldarn" said Tynar to Vathek.

The blue Galhot put the tiny bottle down. "Everything that happened down there today was a crime against nature. The monster, the undead, Cedric and what he did."

"Are you not going to leave?"

"I have no prisoners to look upon, no men to command." Answered the big man

"Then you could come with me. The men under my care regard you like some sort of hero, and there is always space in Sonder Hill"

"You are still assigned at Sonder Hill?" asked Vathek.

"Yes. After leading the group that raided the city in Phobos' orders and participating in its reconstruction, I was assigned there permanently. Also, the Queen is building something in the city for the people. Some sort of educational building, or something. But if you feel like it, you can come with me."

Vathek pondered it a little I his head. "I am flattered, my friend, but I will deny your offer. I will return to the barracks; there is so much to think"

"I understand, it has been a long day, but the offer will be there for you if you want" and Tynar left the room too.

What Vathek didn't mention was that he didn't want to go to Sonder Hill for different reasons. He still remembered Sonder Hill. He still remembered what they did there. How everything started. And how the screams sounded…

Vathek looked at the ceiling of the throne room. The he stood up and went in the kitchens directions. He wanted more alcohol in his veins. He needed more alcohol in his veins.

Speaking about alcohol, the first thig that Caleb and his father had done after exiting the castle had been to go to a tavern. A much smaller tavern that the one that they usually visited, but that had much more potent alcohol. Caleb was now in his second pitcher.

"You will not find Aldarn in the end of a bottle, my son" said Julian; to only gain Caleb punching the table where they were.

"I know! But this is… this is…" Caleb left the pitcher at his side. Then, from his pocket he pulled out a little box. Opening it, he revealed a little golden pendant. You could see the name Cornelia written in it.

"A very good craftsmanship. This is for Cornelia's present in that Christmas thing, isn't it?" His son nodded without looking at him "It was Aldarn's work, wasn't it?"

"For someone that spent his life crafting and using weapons; he really was good with these things. A peaceful object for a peaceful time, he said when he made it for me"

Father and son felt silent. It had been a very hard hit to take. Caleb put his drink to the side. "Let's go. Aldarn's father deserves to cry for his son"

"I agree" said Julian, feeling proud about his son's resolve.

"Father" said Caleb, gaining the older man's attention. "I swear that in the moment that I encounter Cedric again, I will kill him. I will not tolerate that monster to continue breathing"

Julian said nothing. The two of them walked into the city's forge direction, where Aldarn's father; Rhouglar, worked day by day. For a moment, Julian could swear that Caleb had looked exactly like his mother.

* * *

In the now almost empty prison of the Infinite City, Elyon was walking from here to there, looking the damage that the attack had left. There were still blood stains everywhere, but she was not there for that.

She was there to see someone. Someone that she had loved and also feared and hated… and that now made her feel… content, at last. She was still quite confused about her feelings about her brother. Sure, she was thankful for his indirect lessons about politics; and she was now calling him brother; but she was not sure what she could say to him upon meeting with the man again. Well, if you not try…

She approached the only cell that remained filled. Then she called. "Phobos, it's me, come to the light"

At first there was no answer. Then, little by little, a figure came out of the shadows. Elyon was quite surprised, which she reflected arching an eyebrow. Of course, Raythor had omitted that Cedric had tortured him. Elyon looked at her brother and the only thing that came to her mind was the word pathetic.

"What are you doing here?" said Phobos with a rumbled voice, product of his crushed nose.

"I came to talk with you, big brother" was his sister's answer; her choice of words surprising the man. She was growing tired of everyone being surprised of that. No matter what was done, that man was her brother and nothing could change that. "They really did a number on you"

"Came to make fun of me? That's not very appropriate for a Queen, dear sister" mocked Phobos.

Elyon smiled and then, incapable of controlling herself, she laughed. It was the most sincere laughter that she had made in weeks. "Oh dear; even reduced to nothing you still have your pride, don't you? No need to use that self defense technique with me brother, let me… easy things." Elyon snapped her fingers and, after a flash of light, Phobos was completely healed; albeit his robes where still shattered.

The deposed prince looked in disbelief to his sister. A flat "Why?" was everything that he could say.

"Well, what about in exchange of a conversation?" and snapping her fingers again, Elyon made two chairs to appear, one for her and the other one to her brother. The two siblings sat down and looked at the other's face. They had very similar features, if you were good enough to loom for them. After all, they were family.

"What do you want to talk about?" asked the older sibling.

"About the Tracker. About everything that you could tell me about him" said Elyon.

Phobos scolded a little after the mention of the undead. No one treated him like that. Much less a ridiculous walking dead body that only cares about hunting and a deformed dog. Against all the odds, the deposed Prince talked, without mockery, lies or wordplays.

"I found Tracker after securing my hold of the throne. Or more likely, he found me. I wasn't looking for him in the same way that I looked for Cedric or the Lurdens. I must say that I thought about Tracker as a myth. But then, a noble house that was still opposing me was slain overnight. The corpses were found in one of the forest, like someone had performed some sort of hunting with people. After investigating it a little in person, Tracker came out from the deeps of the forest; the head of the noble house's patriarch in tow. My guards took a defensive position, actually pretty afraid of the monster. I, on the other hand, just stood there and waited. Tracker threw the head to my feet, and kneeling, he said that; if I needed to inspire fear into my enemies hearths, he would like to hunt for me."

"And you accepted just like that? No test of loyalty, no checking from where it came?" asked Elyon, a little surprised over her brother's rushed course of action.

"I needed all the followers I could gather in order to secure my order. The rebellion was still young and weak, but there it was. Nothing organized, just a few villages that decided that opposing me was a good idea; but I could see that, with time, the peasants would organize and prove themselves a threat. Tracker just felt like a gift from the universe to me. A creature of legend that followed my orders, inspired fear into my enemies while slaughtering them; and that only asked to let it do its job for compensation. It was ideal."

"One of the things that I learned from the time I spent with you is that ideal things do not exist; big brother."

"I suppose that I have to give you the reason there, little sister"

The two siblings stared to each other. Phobos had no more to say about Tracker, he knew no more than the commanders and the Court, and Elyon knew that. But it had been quite rare to listen to her brother speak hat sincerely. Without tricks, or riddles, or dirty deals that only ended favoring him. Maybe this was the real Phobos? The one that had been buried under a mountain of greed and pride?

Same went for Phobos. He barely could recognize the young lady in front of him. From his sister, he had received both love and adoration; but also contempt and hate. But the Elyon that stood in front of him now was calm, collected and natural. It was like seeing her again when she was under his care in those months when they had first met after Cedric took her to Meridian, but without the annoying childlike demeanor. For some reason, he liked it. He found himself surprised, that he liked this Elyon.

"And what about Cedric?" asked then Elyon.

"Cedric was… a strange case. I heard about him even before I got the throne. I got interested. A beast type shapeshipter is actually quite rare, you now? They tend to be more visceral and physically stronger than the human types."

"Like Miranda" added the Queen.

"Like Miranda, yes. When the kingdom was still under our mother's rule, Cedric did a name for himself as a… rather competent killer. Not a discreet one, of course; it's quite hard to be discreet when you are a giant snake; but for the same reason is also quite hard not to be a talented killer. When I started my rule and you… escaped me, the first thing that I requested was for Cedric to become part of my Court."

"And he accepted willingly?"

"Of course. Our mother and the non-human and non-Galhot people of Meridian always had… very tense relations. Queen Weira was famous for her kindness, but that emotion was directed only to the majority of the population, which tends to be human. Minorities didn't look well in her eyes. That's how I was able to gather the help of the Lurdens too. But Cedric was my jewel in the top of the crown."

Elyon chuckled sarcastically at that. "So you thought of Cedric as an object. And I thought that the two of you were friends when I first met you. Not surprise that he ended betraying you. What do you know about Miranda?"

"I think that you are exceeding a little with your questions, dear sister. But, sadly I don't know anything about little Miranda. Cedric appeared one day with her and he convinced me to let her work in the palace. She proved to be quite… useful. Especially to deceive people."

"No one thinks that it was the cute little girl all along, eh?" said Elyon, in a relaxed tone that she hadn't used since she came back from that damned jewel.

"Well, you didn't" said Phobos, regaining some of his lost mockery.

"No, I actually fell for that act." Answered sincerely Elyon. There was no reason trying to avoid the fact that Miranda had played her like a cello. Seeing that there was no more that she could gain from her brother's mouth; Elyon played with an idea in her head. A very weird idea; but that could end quite well. Then she manifested something in her hands.

Phobos looked at his sister. In her hands was now a device shaped like a cube. It was adorned with a series of strange symbols that had been craved in it long ago. It looked like some sort of writing, thought Phobos couldn't understand it. Elyon handed it to him. The moment that the cube touched Phobos' hands he felt something. There was magic in that cube. But it didn't felt like the type of magic he was accustomed to.

"What is this?" asked the deposed Prince, looking strangely and cautiously at the cube, but also incapable of looking away from it.

"A present; a gift from me to you as payment for this conversation; from a sister to a brother. Maybe is my form of make amends?"

Elyon rose from her seat and walked away from her brother, preparing herself to leave the now individual prison. Before leaving, she heard Phobos' voice behind her.

"But what is this, Elyon?" asked her brother.

"That? Is a puzzle box, Phobos. Try to solve it; it will help you kill some time before I put company for you in this prison again. And maybe if you solve it; you will understand why everyone around you ends committing betrayal."

And then, the Queen banished in the teleportation usual greenish tone; leaving Phobos alone again. But this time, instead of retreating to the shadows of his cell; Phobos maintained his position in the chair that his sister had gave him.

And for some reason that not even he could tell; the fallen member of the Escanor bloodline started to try and solve the puzzle box.

* * *

Back in the palace, Raythor had ended telling Sandpit and Gargoyle their new assignments; and now he was looking for the Queen.

He made his way to the royal chambers and knocked the door. It was not the Queen who answered, though. Instead the one who opened the door was the maid Irvine. Looking oddly at the veteran soldier, Irvine didn't say a word.

"Is the Queen inside?" asked Raythor. The maid negated with her head.

"No, she had not returned yet. I just ended sending message of her majesty's petition to the Fortress of Light of Kandrakar. I hope that they answer soon"

"Well, when the Queen gets back could you please tell her that I need to…?"

"What do you need from me, Raythor?" asked a voice behind him. The veteran soldier turned around and saw the Queen approaching them.

"I will like to have some words with you, your Highness" answered Raythor. Then, looking at Irvine, "in private"

"I have no problems with that. Irvine, did you…?"

"The message was sent correctly, my Queen" said Irvine in her dull tone of voice.

"Excellent. I would like to have a bath after my words with the captain. Could you inform the other maids to have the baths prepared for me?"

"Of course" and the Queen's personal maid exited the chambers and went down the corridor, in the baths directions.

Entering the chambers with Raythor behind her, Elyon closed the door with a movement of her hand. The she took seat behind her desk, as usual. Raythor stood in front of her.

"What it is that you want to talk about, Raythor? I know that you wouldn't come here just to inform me that you had assigned Sandpit and Gargoyle as I ordered."

"No, it's not about that. During the meeting with the others, I left something out of my report."

"And you did this because?" asked the Queen.

"Because it involves them. You see, your majesty, during the attack on the Infinite City, Tracker knew that you were at Kelliwick. When I asked him how he knew, well… he said that the Court was full of traitors. And the ones aside from yourself and the ministers that knew that information were..."

"The members of the high commanding. Are you implying that we could have a traitor among them?" asked the Queen, without showing a trace of surprise or denial.

"Among them, or among the highest ranking ministers, your highness"

"Are you conscious that that also includes you, captain?" said the Queen.

"Yes, your majesty."

Elyon's lips formed a smile. "And that's the reason I'm really thankful for having you around, captain. But you being the traitor is highly unlikeable; due to you being one of the attacked; and the fact that you are now here, telling me this. I suppose that we could also discard Aldarn. What about Vathek? He didn't say a word about this in the meeting."

"I doubt it. I don't think about Vathek as someone with so much cold blood to aid a slaughter against his own men. Actually, I really doubt that any of the commanders could have done something like that to the people they are in charge of. Especially Caleb, having such a deep bond with the late Aldarn"

"So, one of the ministers then?" asked Elyon, who had started to

"Well, there is also the possibility that Tracker was lying, just to create distrust between our men. But I thought that it would be a good idea to told you about his words, my Queen"

Elyon meditated a little. "Captain Raythor" she said after a few seconds "I want you to select only one man, I repeat; only one; the one that you trust the most; and then I want the two of you to start an investigation about the ministers that accompanied me to Kelliwick. If you found something suspicious, communicate it directly and only to me. Also, made the investigation as covertly as possible. I don't want the court to think that there is someone planning at our back again if there is really no one; and the last thing that Meridian needs now is internal fights in the Court. Now, if you make me the favor of leaving I would let done some paperwork before going to bathe"

"As you wish, my Queen" said the veteran soldier; and then he exited the room; thinking about who he could use as an ally in his investigation.

Then the room ended with only the Queen in it. Elyon pulled a map from one of her desk's drawers and extended it over her desk. It was a map of Meridian. Aside from the capital, it had several other villages signaled in it. She looked for Kelliwick in the map and, after spotting it, she marked the location with a sigil. Next one will be Carhaiz; then Sonder Hill, last one would be Lannion. And after that the festival.

Elyon stretched herself and put the map again in its place. After a few minutes, Irvine knocked at the door to inform her that her bath was ready. Elyon followed her maid into the baths. She hoped that Kandrakar could answer soon.

Today had been a very tiring but productive day.

* * *

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of the Infinity._**

In the brilliant center of the universe, was a brilliant world. In that brilliant world was an enormous citadel that was called Fortress of Light. This was Kandrakar, the source of the Light, order and law in the universe.

But not everything was beautiful about this place. In one section of the fortress, there was a tower that erected itself higher than the others. This was the Tower of Mists, Kandrakar's own prison, destination to the universe's worst criminals. Inside the tower, dozens of cells contained the prisoners. But this weren't normal cells. These were cells designed to show to their prisoners an illusionary world that matched their own crimes. The deceivers were put in deceptive illusion worlds without gravity; the violent in illusionary eternal battlefields; the traitorous in places full of backstabbing people.

The Tower was guarded by a man of Basilade named Endarno; a high ranking sage of Kandrakar. You could say that, due to his responsibility, he was second to the Oracle himself. An elderly man, with a long black mane (albeit with a few grey stripes in it) a fine beard and various scars by his left eye, prove of his past as a warrior. But right now Endarno was not in the Tower. He was now attending to a private meeting between him and Himerish. His leader and Oracle. But also his friend.

But this was not a happy meeting. The two men were very troubled. It looked like the universe didn't want to give them a break. After the entire incident with Nerissa; the multiple sages had thought that a large era of peace would come. But there was no rest.

From Earth, the current generation of Guardians and the self-entitled Regents of Earth had sent message of an attack perpetrated by some sort of machine that was immune to the Keeper's power and that had caused numerous deaths.

From Meridian, another meeting request from Queen Elyon Escanor, about an attack on the Infinite City, perpetrated by the Tracker (that was presumed dead) and an unknown creature whose description didn't match with anything that had ever inhabited Meridian.

Himerish had never been a man that negates other's petitions of help and guidance but… even the figure of the Oracle has its limits. Even Himerish was bound to the laws that were defined so long ago by the first Oracle and the first Council of Light. And they specified that Kandrakar couldn't take a direct role in the destinies of one world unless its conflicts could possibly affect the rest of the Infinite Dimensions. There was no problem with offering guidance to the Guardians, after all they were Kandrakar's heralds; but the Council might not permit to spend more resources in the Earth or Meridian if proven to not be truly necessary. That's why, even as Oracle, Himerish was now searching for Endarno's advice. His friend, of course, helped to take the most logical action.

"Call here the Guardians, the Regents and Queen Elyon, at the same time. It could let us discern if the attacks are connected. But it could also be wise to count with representatives of the other worlds that form part of the Council of Light. Like that, if the attacks are related, then the Queen and the Guardians could work together. If not, at least it will show to the rest of the Council of Light that we have our reasons to worry about those worlds."

"Yes, it is a splendid idea" said Himerish. "We will do it that way. Thank you, my friend, you always seem to have your mind cleared when mine is troubled"

Endarno looked concerned about this. "Are you alright, Himerish? You look quite tired"

"I am tired, Endarno. I don't know why. But lately I have been feeling that way. I hope that we can solve this case fast and good enough"

"Then I will take care of sending immediately the contestations to the Guardians and to Meridian. I will also request the presence of some of the other Hearths of the Infinite Dimensions"

"Thank you, Endarno"

The guardian of the Tower of Mists left the meditation room. Then Himerish tried to meditate to no end. He really was feeling weak.

* * *

 ** _The world of Earth. December 22_** ** _nd_** ** _. Wednesday morning._**

Outside the hospital, four of the girls, plus Matt Olsen, the dormouse Mr. Huggles and the cat Napoleon were waiting for the last member of the party to come out of the building.

"Are you sure that you are okay, Taranee?" asked concerned Will to one of her friends. Taranee had been out of the hospital since yesterday. Of course, she was still parched with bandages around her ribs, but the bones were good enough to get her out of the building. Of course, her Guardian "physiology" had helped with the recovery. In any other circumstance, someone could have signaled that that healing process had been inhuman, but the hospital staff wasn't in a situation to look wary of free beds.

"Yeah, thank you Will. But aside the fact that moving with this" she pocked her side and made a sound by touching the bandage under her clothes "is really a pain in the ass; I'm fine"

"We are running late. You sure that there hasn't been a problem?" asked the talking cat to the group, just to get a scold from Matt, indicating the animal to be patient.

They had received a message from Kandrakar almost after sending it. The catch was in that the Oracle had not only accepted their request, but requested himself the presence of the Regents. Since they were the heralds of the power of the Hearth of Earth by now; they thought that it was normal that Kandrakar could request their presence.

But they were really running late. The only one lasting was Hay Lin. Her grandmother and Cassidy were inside trying to get her out with the excuse of going for a little "walk". While Taranee was completely out; not even the power that a Guardian wielded could heal completely Hay Lin's hands. They weren't as bad as they had been when to ingress in the hospital, but they had left some scars; and Hay had lost some sensibility. The worst part had been the doctors saying to Hay Lin's family that maybe their girl could never be able to paint again. That had been worst that any scar.

Finally, the hospital's doors opened, revealing Yan Lin and Cassidy; the later pulling a wheelchair in which Hay Lin was sitting.

"Is it really necessary to use this, grandma?" asked the chinese girl referring to the chair "I'm hurt in the hands, not in the legs"

"Rules of the hospital, Hay Lin." said Cassidy behind her, making Yan Lin smirk.

When reaching the group, though, Hay Lin couldn't resist the urge to jump from her seat and run to her friends. They gave Hay Lin a bear hug so strong that, if the Air Guardian had not been filled to the head with analgesics, she could have been hurt.

"Here we are" said Cassidy while ditching the wheelchair to the side, they were not going to need it. "I think that we will have a good amount of hours before we have to retrieve Hay Lin to the hospital. Everyone has made excuses?"

The girls and Matt nodded. Actually, the excuse had been the same; visiting Hay Lin at the hospital. If it had been something else, each one of their parents and tutors could have locked them in their rooms. The whole town was almost drowning in terror. And it was supposed to be a time of joy and happiness.

"Well, in that case" Will pulled out the Hearth of Kandrakar from under her and coat. "Guardians unite"

After a flash of pink light that enveloped the five girls, they appeared in their Guardian forms. Taranee patted her side again. No bandages or pain. But Hay Lin's hand's scars still remained.

For their part, Matt and the two animals had assumed their Regent forms; with Matt sprouting out his usual pair of black wings; and Mr. Huggles and Napoleon assuming their more bestial and humanoid forms. Then Will opened a fold in space that directed to Kandrakar. One by one, the five Guardians, the three Regents and their two companions crossed the Fold, leaving no one behind.

* * *

Far from the hospital, but still in Heatherfield, Raphael Sylva had received an alert in one of his computers. He was currently working with all the data that he had gathered after the attack. The girls had fought well; and as a man who once was a soldier; Sylva recognized a good unit when he saw one. And that quintet was one hell of a good and coordinated unit. Their teamwork was their strong point, it seemed. Besides the supernatural abilities, of course. Man, the MK I could break steel doors with its punches. And, according to the records; little miss Cook only had her ribs broken. So, to the manipulation of elements and weather, he had also to add incredibly physical resistance. The mercenary adjusted his glasses and looked at the alert. How did the boss called it? Space disruption? Whatever, it meant that something was either coming to or leaving this world. Another strange thing to inform about, he supposed. He smiled. After this affair maybe he could retire. He doubted that any other mission could top this one.

He then held his phone to his ear and called. After a few ringtones, the boss answered from the other side. "Sir, Phase I has been completed. I have everything you asked for"

"Excellent Raphael. Had a day off after sending me the data. The others and I will arrive in the time expected"

Then the call ended. While Sylva was planning to go and watch a movie that afternoon; in the other side of the phone line, a bald man in his late fifties stretched himself in a large chair. He then reached for a chess tablet that was in a table ahead of him. There were several pieces in it. He was playing with the black ones. He took a black peon from his side and put it out of the game.

"All according to plan", said the man to himself.

* * *

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of the Infinity._**

After arriving at Kandrakar, the group was received, as usual, by Halinor, the former Guardian of Fire and companion of Yan Lin and Cassidy. The former Guardian and now member of the Council of Light guided them inside, in the direction of the meeting chamber where the Council usually discussed things.

Then another Fold opened in the air. The girls were surprised when seeing Elyon appear from the Fold, followed by a woman a little older than her; Caleb, his father Julian, and Raythor, of all people. The Queen of Meridian was also surprised of seeing the group of girls there; accompanied by the Regents of Earth, no less.

Upon seeing his girlfriend, who he hadn't seeing in a while, Caleb headed in Cornelia's direction, for the girl to do the same. The couple embraced themselves and kissed; just for sense that something was wrong with the other. Without the need of words, they looked into each other's eyes. They sensed that something horrible had happened.

"Elyon, is good to see you" greeted Taranee to the meridianite royal

"Yep, long time without seeing you, Ely" said then Irma. "And who is the new face?" asked the Water Guardian signaling to Irvine.

"I am Irvine, personal maid of her majesty, Queen Elyon Escanor" presented herself the maid, with a respectful bow of her head and figure.

"Hello" said Will and Hay Lin to the woman; while Taranee greeted with a "Nice to meet you"

"Hi Irvy, nice to meet you too" said a smiling Irma, leaving a disoriented look into the maid's face at the hearing of being called "Irvy"

"Irma does that, you will get accustomed in no time, I promise. But what are you all doing here?" asked Elyon to the group. "The Oracle called for you after I send the message?"

"No" said a dumbfounded Will. "I was thinking the same about you. Did something happen in Meridian to?"

"We suffered a hard attack. We lost a lot of good people." answered Raythor.

"You suffered an attack too?" asked Cornelia to Caleb. The young man nodded, eyes closed. Cornelia could feel that there was more to it that what was being told. But she didn't want her beloved to talk if he wanted. Maybe later, in private.

"Please" interrupted Halinor "If you may walk inside the chamber and take your respective seats, the Oracle is waiting and then you could be able to explain your respective situations"

All the groups headed inside; and after entering the meeting chamber and assuming their respective seats, the Oracle appeared in the center of the room, in his reserved spot for the meeting.

Matt noticed that some of the sages of the Council of Light directed some "aggressive" looks at him and Mr. Huggles. He could understand it. Not long ago the two of them had attacked the very same place as Shagon and Khor. For her part, Will noticed that the Council seemed fuller than normally. He could spot a few individuals that were not dressed in Kandrakar's usual white robes.

"As many of you may now; a couple of days ago, the worlds of Earth and Meridian suffered attacks against their people." interrupted their thoughts the Oracle. The reason that I called each world's representatives is in order to discern if the two attacks have a correlation. Since the message from the Guardians arrived first, I will lend the word to the Keeper of the Hearth, Will Vandom" then Himerish assumed a meditational pose, letting Will to rise from her seat and explain to the Council and the rest of the attendants what had happened in Earth.

Himerish assimilated the Guardian's words. They had done a good job saving as many people as possible; but it seemed that the attack had been perpetrated for earthlings themselves. For the moment, Kandrakar had no right to intervene there.

Then it was Elyon's turn. The Queen of Meridian related to the Council everything that had happened in the attack to the Infinite City; about Tracker, the monster that accompanied him and about their losses. When she said that Aldarn had fallen by Cedric's hands, Cornelia looked at Caleb, who was looking at the ground. She knew about the two men's friendship. She had seen the two of them talking, laughing.

What took the interest of the whole Council, though; was the fact that Cedric could now use Quintessence. "Preposterous!" shouted one of the sages. "Impossible!" shouted another one. The whole chamber burst into discussion.

"Only Kandrakar has authority to entrust that power upon someone!" could be hear from the left part of the Council. "There is no way that a simple shapeshipter could use the power of Quintessence!" was heard from the right.

"Ah, this was always Kadma's favorite part. Senseless bureaucracy; that's what she used to call it" whispered Cassidy, with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Well, maybe that Chimera has discovered a way to steal that power for himself. There are ways to cheat even to the universe itself. Negate that reality just to maintain our pride only could lead to not taking the right decision now. Don't you agree, Oracle?" a female voice said above the rest of the bravado. The Council felt silent, and Himerish looked in the voice's direction.

A woman came from behind the white robes; her presence gathering the attention of every member of the Meridian and Earth groups. Unlike the rest of the council, she was casted in a long, tight and actually pretty revealing green dress that hugged to her curvaceous figure and matched her also green hair. Her skin was pale; but there were tiny green scales scattered over it, especially over her forehead. Her lips were of a bright pink, and her eyes were green too. She was walking barefoot against the white marble of the chamber. Behind her, a little blond boy with a bored expression followed the woman's footsteps. He would be between eleven or twelve. The woman looked in control of everything, a lock of her green hair falling over her right eye. The boy like he wouldn't give a damn even if the whole chamber fell over them. One think was clear, those were not sages.

"Grandma, who are they?" asked Hay Lin to her grandmother.

"Those…" started to say Yan Lin, the asian elder also quite surprised of seeing that woman there. She had heard of the boy, but actually never met him in person. "Those are the banshee queen Yua, the Hearth of Arkhanta and her protégé Maqui; the son of the human king of their world, Ari."

"Whoa, you mean that she is like Elyon is? A natural Hearth of a world?" asked Will.

"Yes…" said Yan Lin. What was the so-called Eternal Hearth doing there? "She is one of the oldest Hearths in the universe; probably the oldest. She is even more ancient than the Oracle. She has actually a pretty powerful and heavy word between the Infinite Dimensions and the Council due to that"

"Well, she doesn't look old in the slightest" remarked Will.

"I would go one step ahead. I say that she looks gorgeous" said Irma, actually sounding pretty aloud.

"Irma!" whispered Taranee to her friend.

"Does she actually wear something under that dress?" continued the Water Guardian.

"Irma, shut up!" this time was Cornelia.

"I mean, I've seen watermelons that look smaller than those two…" Irma kept saying.

"IRMA!" said Taranee and Cornelia in unison, achieving Irma's silence. Will and hay Lin were a little more focused in what Yan Lin had said.

"What do you mean by _Eternal Hearth_?" asked Will to the elder.

"What Yan Lin means is that, ever since Yua became the Hearth of her world, she had been the Hearth of her world. No one else has been signaled as a proper successor among the banshees for that task. Not that they need it, anyway. From what I heard, she is a pretty good leader" answered Cassidy in her friend's behalf.

"Wait, doesn't that mean that she is, like…" started Hay Lin.

"Millennia old, yes" finished her grandmother.

"That woman" said then Napoleon, "is strong. And I am not talking about her magic"

"I can feel it too" said Matt, to what Mr. Huggles agreed with a little groan.

Yua looked in their direction. So that was the new Guardian generation; and those earthlings playing big. And two of their predecessors accompanying them; playing the caretaker role. "Interesting…" whispered Yua in such a manner that only Maqui could heard her. But the boy was not paying attention. Just like Yua had found interesting the new Guardians and the Regents of Earth; Maqui was now feeling a very similar sensation upon looking at Elyon. The Queen of Meridian noted the boy's stare and smiled at him. The boy continued to look at her; his eyes looking bored no more.

Yua made her way until she was in a favored spot to speak. "If we answer to something like this with shouts about it being" the banshee adopted an overdramatic posse "IMPOSSIBLE!" she resumed her normal posture "we will only deny the reality around us and we will be unable to solve the problem. I think that was the attitude that this Council chose with the fallen Keeper of the Hearth not long ago; and it cost this Council the steal of two Hearths and almost the complete loss of this Fortress. We should accept the word of the Meridian Queen. She has proved more competent at the throne in a few months that her brother and also various of her predecessors in their entire rules"

Elyon made a gesture of gratitude to the banshee; and the green haired woman smiled at her. Maqui kept looking at Elyon, fascinated.

"But can we be sure that that shapeshipter is really a danger to the rest of the Infinite Dimensions and the worlds that form this Council?" asked another female voice, this one sounding more juvenile. "Until now, his only sin against us has been only the fact that he had retained that power from when he stole it. I think that we should focus more in the undead know as Tracker and the creature that accompanied him. Also, the attack in the Earth realm shouldn't be dismissed" the voice belonged to a young adult woman of short black hair, white skin and catlike features. She was dressed in white, but her clothes were some sort of military-like uniform that reminded the girls of a japanese kimono. Unlike Yua, she had not risen from her seat, and actually was supporting her legs in one of the balustrades that were in front of some of the seats.

"And that is…?" asked this time Will.

"The Hearth of Basilade, the young Warrior-Empress Orube…" said Yan Lin, even more surprised than before. Okay, what the hell was going on? What the hell were doing two Hearths in that meeting? Yan Lin looked at Himerish, and he answered her doubts with a simple look.

"Ah, I understand…" said the woman with a sad tone.

"What do you understand?" asked Taranee to the older woman.

"The Oracle is trying to show that those problems are worth of the Council's direct intervention."

"Wait, what? What do you mean with worth of a direct intervention, grandma?"

"Ah!" said Irma "Cassidy told me! If the robot and the Tracker are dangerous only to our worlds, then Kandrakar has no right to intervene"

"What?!" shouted Taranee, to lower her voice instantaneously "So, they want to leave us alone?"

"It's not like that" said Cassidy "It's a law designed to maintain the independence of the worlds. But, if the Hearth of the world gives you permission to cooperate with them, there must be no problem. Also, you five are from Earth. You are quite excused if you use your powers to defend your own world."

Cassidy's words calmed the girls a little. So, the only thing needed was the Regents' permission. Good think that the two groups were so close. But that didn't solve the problem of Meridian.

Elyon stood up again. "If I may, Oracle; if my people and I capture Cedric and Tracker again… could the two of them be deprived of their magic and held captive here?"

" _If Cedric makes it alive_ " thought Caleb to himself.

"Of course" Said now a male voice. Endarno appeared by the side of Himerish. "I will make sure of that. As the guardian of the Tower of Mists, Kandrakar's top security prison"

"Oh, look, _another_ new face…" said Irma with annoyance.

"I agree with Irma, what is today?" said Cornelia.

"That would be…?" it was Taranee this time the one who asked to the two ex-guardians.

"For what I heard from Kadma and Halinor; an asshole" said Cassidy, letting a very confused quintet of girls.

"Cassidy, no need to be disrespectful" said Yan Lin.

"Oh, like _you_ , of all people, think otherwise"

"I don't, but that's my judgment. The girls must make their own ones"

The girls were about to ask what was that about; but Elyon's words interrupted them. "Then, I won't request the help of Kandrakar in this matter. If the Fortress of Light doesn't have information of any type in regard of the unknown creature or how did Tracker raise from the death; then my own men and myself can manage this. The Guardians should take care of defending their world by aiding the Regents."

"Are you sure of that?" asked Himerish.

"Yes, unless my councilors have to say otherwise" said Elyon, referring to the three men accompanying her. Raythor had nothing to say, neither had Julian. The two of them thought that the Guardians should defend their world. Tracker and Cedric were known enemies; but that mechanical thing that the Keeper described seemed like a mystery. As for Caleb, he didn't want Kandrakar's help for far different reasons. If Cornelia and the others intervened, Cedric could end in a cell; and that monster deserved to die by his hands. So no of them protested. Of course; much less did Irvine. Her Queen's words were law.

This tacked a little aback the girls. Elyon didn't want help from them? What she said sounded logical, but… they were friends, right?

"And what have the Regents of Earth to say about this matter?" asked the Oracle to Matt and the two anthropomorphic animals.

The winged man stood up. "As Regents of the Hearth of Earth, we request the aid of Kandrakar and the Council of Light in this matter; in order to solve the problem that concerns to our world as fast as possible"

Himerish smiled. "Then, as the Oracle of Kandrakar and head of this Council of Light; I bestow upon the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions the task of aiding you into solving this conflict and bring the ones responsible to the justice."

After that sentence, the Council was dismissed.

* * *

The girls and the regents were heading outside. Will and Matt walking side by side.

"I never thought of you as someone prone to grandiloquent speeches" said the redhead to her boyfriend with a smirk in her face. Matt smiled back.

"Hey, I spent a fair amount of time under the control of a woman that loved over the top speeches. I suppose that I have learned something"

"Just make sure that you don't develop the urge to take over the world, okay?"

"Okay, I will try. But what about just a little country?" joked the winged Regent.

"Matt!" shouted Will to her boyfriend at the same time that giving him a poke with her elbow. The couple started to laugh. It had been a very hard couple of days since the attack. But now they have Kandrakar's permission to act. They will counterattack. Their first step would be that spot that Will detected in the port. But they will wait after Christmas. Their families could get suspicious if they proceeded earlier, or if Hay Lin was still in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Cornelia had separated from her group and met with Caleb. The young man had done the same with his Queen and his companions. They were having a little walk around the Fortress. Cornelia didn't know how to start a conversation. The she had an idea.

"What… what is the last thing that you remember about Aldarn?" asked the Earth Guardian.

Caleb thought about it. The last time he had seen Aldarn had been… when he had given him the pendant meant to be Cornelia's present. "It was…" started the young man.

"No, don't tell me. Was it a happy moment?"

"Yes"

"Then treasure it. When… my aunt Sylvia died, a lot of years ago, my mother told my father that, if you are able to remember the last happy time spend with that person, you would be able to make them live within you, in your memory. Remember him like that; and he will live forever. At least, that was what my mother says."

After a few moments, Caleb answered Cornelia. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

"Yes. But I'll never be tired of hearing it" and the two teens kissed each other.

"So" continued the blonde, after breaking the kiss "are you still coming for Christmas, with all that is happening

"I don't know. Luckily, Elyon would let me put to practice my plan of creating a group of elite soldiers to hunt down Cedric and Miranda. For Tracker and… the thing, I don't know how we will proceed. I suppose that we will use Sandpit or Gargoyle against them"

"Umhum" muttered Cornelia "Speaking about Elyon, I felt her a little different. What is with her?"

"She has been… acting cold for the time being. Also, Miridiael has been in bed since a couple of days before the attack. I suppose that that's only complicating things. Elyon is trying to be competent. And she is being, the people are enthusiastic with what she had accomplished, you should have seen the speech that she gave in Kelliwick; but… the people are starting to call her Iron Queen too."

"Iron Queen?" asked Cornelia, a little perplexed.

"Yeah"

"God… I'll have a little chat with her when I can. I suppose that she is only trying to do her best and she is just overworking herself. Where is she, by the way? I didn't saw her exiting with the rest of you"

"I think that she is having a conversation with that green haired woman from before."

"Ah, Yan Lin told us that she is like Elyon, but from a world called Arkhanta. She is called Yua. Politics, I suppose."

"That kid that was with her was really disturbing me. He was staring at us with that blank expression…"

"I think that he was cute" retorted Cornelia at her beloved one.

"Whatever…" answered the young man.

As it turned out that Caleb was right. Elyon truly was having a conversation with Yua; especially to thank her about her words of praise. Also, it was a good moment to strength (or in this case, start) good relations with Arkhanta.

"I said things as they are, young Lady of Escanor. You truly have accomplished so many merits in such a small amount of time. Your skills deserve to be recognized. Don't you agree, Maqui?"

The blond young boy had remained a little away from the couple of women, but his eyes had never leave Elyon. Noticing this Yua made the boy to come closer to them.

"Ah, don't feel like that Maqui. Lady Elyon is a good woman. Don't need to feel ashamed; my little protégé."

"Lady Yua is right. I'm pleased to meet you, Maqui." Said Elyon, with a warm smile appearing in her face and lifting her hand to salute the young boy. Instead of shaking it, Maqui took the hand of the Queen of Meridian and kissed it.

"Well, that was unexpected. But I will lie if I say that it was not pleasant. It is good to see chivalry is not dead" said Elyon, her smile growing even wider.

"Oh my" said Yua, a Cheshire grin appearing in her face. "Did my little Maqui fall in love with a Queen? Maybe he likes older women? Is it because he is a prince too? Or maybe is because… you are the same?"

"What do you mean by the same?" asked Elyon.

"When Maqui was born" related Yua "he was extremely sick. His mother didn't even make it alive. Looking for help and turned down by the Oracle, his father, Ari, appealed to me. But even my power was not enough to save the child, so…" Yua caressed the young boy's head "I called upon an old friend that I met long ago; a sacred being of great power. And she descended upon Maqui with three other sacred beings and saved his life. In return, Maqui had been connected to them since childhood."

"Ah, I understand. Then I am more than glad to have met you, Maqui. Unfortunately, I think that I have to leave. My kingdom needs its Queen." As a farewell, Elyon kissed the young boy in the cheek, making his face to become as red as tomato. "Then, hope that we meet again soon. I will feel honored if the two of you can be at the festival that my world is going to organize for the solstice soon." and the Queen headed in the direction of her escort.

"I like her. She is just like a little me" said Yua to nobody in particular. Then she noticed Maqui's face. "I think that I will have Ari give you a little talk about men and women when we get back home"

* * *

Upon the arrival of Elyon; Caleb and Cornelia bid farewell to each other; not without the young man promising that he would be with her in Christmas no matter what. After that, the Meridian and Earth parties separated from one another and crossed the space continuum to their respective worlds.

In the Earth, the Guardians and the Regents returned to their human forms. Or in case of Napoleon and Mr. Huggles, their animal forms. After that, Cassidy pulled the same wheelchair than before from the spot where it had been left; and patting the object she looked funny to Hay Lin. Sighing, the Air Guardian waved to her friends; as they promised to return tomorrow and the young chinese girls was driven to the hospital again by her grandmother and Cassidy.

The group started to head to their own houses together. After a few moments of random conversation, Irma asked "So, when Hay Lin gets out we are gonna go after the asshole who sent the robot, aren't we?"

"Yes. Good think that the Oracle gave us permission to collaborate" said Will.

"I don't know why we need permission in the first place" complained Taranee. "And also, have some of you get a really weird sensation from Elyon? I mean, what was that about not wanting our help?"

"Caleb told me that Elyon had been acting strange lately. Like, colder and more distant" answered Cornelia.

"Well, they had suffered an attack as hard as ours. And Elyon is the chief of her world, the most high authority. It's normal that she gets stressed with this; but you hear that banshee woman, she is doing great" said the Matt.

"Yeah, no need to worry about. Knowing Ely, she will resurface from this stronger than ever. You should know, Cornelia. She is your best friend, after all."

"Yes, yes she is" answered the blonde with a nostalgic smile.

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian. The black tree of the deep forest._**

At night in the clearing in the forest were he usually came back to the world of the living, Tracker was honing his skills with his blade, only illuminated by a little bonfire. Or more accurate, he was making his body remember the sensation of using a blade instead of his usual magical flail.

The spawn of the forgotten realms was there with him. It was just resting in the ground; not even molesting with watching tracker do his practice. The Eternal Hunter had hunt a little after their raid of that prison. It had been nothing too serious, of course; just a pair of men and women that were walking by the forest.

But Tracker knew that, if he was going to hunt bigger prey and use the sword to do it, he would need to re-master its use. And he wanted to hunt bigger prey. So here he was, waiting for the other hierophant to appear by practicing. Once finished the sets of movements, he sat down and leaned by the same tree that bestowed eternal life upon him. Then, he started petting Sniffer; who was also resting by the ugly an dried black tree.

Then the creature rose from its rest. "Hierophant; the other one is here" said the beast.

Tracker looked to one of the clearing's exits. From there little by little; a hooded figure entered the clearing. It walked silently in the bonfire's direction and sat down by its side. Then the figure started to warm its hands.

"You were almost late" said the Tracker to the hooded figure; his hierophant companion. "I was starting to feel a little worried"

"It's not my fault" answered the other hierophant. "The meeting at Kandrakar lasted more than anticipated."

"And what news do you carry from the Fortress of Light?" asked the undead.

"Well, everything is going as planned. None of them have thought about your attack as something else; those perky little pawns thinking that they are God. And the Guardians are going to be pretty busy with the problems of their own home. They are actually more shocked about Cedric having the ability to use Quintessence than anything else." Said the hooded figure

"Well, from what _they_ told me; giving Cedric those powers was _your_ idea, your majesty". Said the Tracker.

The hooded figure turned its head around and looked directly at Tracker. The light of the moon and the bonfire illuminated the figure's face. It was one of a woman. The hierophant discarded the hood and let her blond hair to fly with the wind that passed in the clearing; completely free. There, having a conversation with the Tracker was Elyon Escanor, the Queen of Meridian.

"Please Tracker; we are fellow Hierophants. For you, I'm just Elyon" said the girl, smiling to the undead.

 _I believe every chess player senses beauty, when he succeeds in creating situations, which contradict the expectations and the rules, and he succeeds in mastering this situation._ Vladimir Kramnik

* * *

 **Author notes: That was… one … long chapter. But… there it is. So, this was the chapter four of "A different story". It had taken a lot of effort to compact all the reactions of both worlds to the attacks and show the reaction of every character. Also, I have took advantage of it to darken a few thing about the W.I.T.C.H. universe, like C.H.Y.N.K killing someone in their past.; and not being Nerissa's fault but an accord between every member.**

 **Also, it's now official by Oracle that the girls will be staying at Earth to deal with that world problems, which means that the next chapter will finally be the start of the Riddle Arc. But what about Meridian? Well, I have decided to develop Meridian in what I call "Meridian Interludes", chapters that will be focused in Meridian and that will be published after two chapters of the Riddle Arc. So, two chapters in Earth-One in Meridian; okay?**

 **For another part; yes, the puzzle box that Phobos has now it's a reference to Hellraiser; and YES; that's Elyon. Yep, the mole inside the court that I mentioned in chapter two… is the Queen herself, playing Emperor Palpatine with her people. But, she is doing it because she thinks that it's the best for her people. Also, I wanted to show that Elyon feels more relaxed with her former enemies (like her brother) Tracker and Yua and Maqui than she feels with her friends and family. Why How and When will be answered with time. And if you want to know what the hell happened in Sonder Hill, you will have to wait. For the time being, enjoy the first two chapters of the Riddle Arc that are to come. I hope that you all really enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Have pleasant days and nights, you all.**


	5. Chapter 5: Riddle Arc Part I

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH. It is the property of the mighty Disney Company**

 **Well, dear folks and readers. Here we are; the beginning of the Riddle Arc. I have to remind you that the chapters corresponding to this arc will be focused on the Guardians, the Earth Regents and their "adventures" and struggles in Earth. After this chapter, it will came another one; and after that one the first Meridian Interlude, in which we will switch back to Meridian. This is made to provide good character development to both character parties; both earthling and meridianite. Also, from this point onward, there are going to be some DARK moments. In this chapter, actually, you will get a little torture scene. And things are going to go downhill after that; and let's not speak about what is going to happen when the fic reach its middle. Remember the prologue to this thing? Well, yeah, figure out what is going to happen.**

 **But, onto the story. You have been warned! Today, we come to the confrontation with Raphael Sylva, the starter villain of this series and fic. So, as always, enjoy the read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter five

Riddle Arc. Part One

The Nightmare before Christmas

 ** _The world of Earth. December 23_** ** _rd_** ** _. Tuesday morning._**

Heatherfield always had been a very tranquil and peaceful place. Even during the hardest of times, the city had always remained calm. That was what led a young Herbert Olsen to sit his head in that place. No great surprises, no great events that had to molest the lives of the people. Herbert just had to settle his pet store, his all life dream (what could he said? He loved animals, everyone loved animals); and tranquilly watch the days go on one by one.

In what looked like weeks; decades had passed; and Herbert had wed to a woman; had a son with her; his son also had waited in the altar for his love to walk to him; and then, in what looked that seconds; a little kid that called him grandpa was running on the street towards him.

Of course, there had been bad moments too. His wife had passed to a better life long before him; and his son and daughter in law died too. That left only him and little Matt. But even in those hard times, Heatherfield had been peaceful. As a man who had always believed in the power and virtues of hard work, Herbert just looked at himself and said "I need to work harder"; believing that his efforts and the city's tranquility would help him and the boy.

In another blink of an eye; the boy became a young man, with friends, a girlfriend and even a music band. Herbert had been always a fan of blues; but he recognized the merits of the music his grandson played. Between his pet store, and the boy's concerts and multiple part-time jobs; they had enough money to live and permit themselves with some whims.

And then the explosion at the mall came. And Heatherfield, that always had been peaceful, stop being such. The people were afraid of letting their sons and daughters out of their houses; the police presence skyrocketed in the streets; there were funerals and respecting memorials almost every day since the attack. But, it was Christmas time; and not even the shadow of dead and destruction stopped the people of buying. Maybe the need to buy of the people even got amped up. After all, humans of this era love to bury their fears and insecurities under tons of material. That's one of the fundaments of consumerism, isn't it?

But to old Herbert Olsen meant that, every time that a little boy or girl of a family with enough monetary power that didn't want to tell to the little children what happened to the mall asked for what happened in the mall; they bought a pet to them. Also, he didn't want to feel like that, but a part of him was a little grateful about what happened. It meant more clients in his shop. So Herbert thought to himself that, at least, he was making more people happy each time that he sold a puppy or a kitty to a new child. Well, at least the majority were children.

The one looking through the shop was now a man on his thirties or so, trying to decide between a porcupine or a black cat with thick black fur and a defiant look in her eyes. The man, a blond with long hair and glasses, decided to buy the cat.

"Are you sure? That's just a stray cat that I found in the street and that I have been taken care off" said the elder to the blond man. "It's actually pretty aggressive, sir. It maybe would attack you. If it's a Christmas present for a child or something…"

"Oh, it's a present for a woman. But don't worry. I have bought it precisely because of that aggressive look on its eyes"

"Her eyes, sir" corrected Herbert "Its female"

"Splendid! Oh, the good lady is going to love it!" said the man with a happy and enthusiastic grin.

While putting the animal in a carriage box, and explaining to the client how was supposed to interact with such an aggressive animal, Herbert couldn't resist the temptation of starting a conversation.

"Are you married, sir?" asked the elder, just to get a look of his interlocutor. He looked at Herbert like he had just said the most stupid thing in the world.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. No." Said the blond man repeatedly. "I'm not married. Actually she is married to a man, a very good man. It just turns out that they are both very good friends of mine and that I want to give them something for Christmas. Tough… they are Jewish. I suppose that it won't be offensive right?"

"I don't think so" answered Herbert. "Christmas has lost a lot of its religious meaning in the recent years. Now you value the family, or the mater. Either one of the two you value most, it turns well for me!" grinned the old man. He was getting into this conversation really fast.

"Well, look at that. The grumpy old man of the pet shop has a greedy side!" joked Herbert's interlocutor too. "You really got me fooled with the humble elder act, Mr.…?

"Olsen, Herbert Olsen" said the old man, holding his hand in the air.

"Raphael Sylva" saluted the blond man back, shaking Herbert's hand. "Olsen, Olsen… Like Matt Olsen, perhaps?"

"Oh, you know my grandson?" asked Herbert.

"Quite. I was one of his teachers until last Monday. I taught informatics" answered the man "I remember your grandson. He plays in a band, or something, doesn't he?"

"Yes he does. So, you are a teacher at Sheffield?" stated the old man.

"I was. My contract expired as vacations started" explained Sylva. "It's a shame; I actually liked the people there"

"Well, you could be back anytime. Who knows when it's needed another teacher? Did you left because you had another job?" said Herbert while tuning around and trying to get one of the cans of pet food for cats that he had in one of the stands.

"Yep; and, it's not like I don't like the boys and girls at school; but my new assignment it's much more fun" said Sylva at the man's back.

"Really? And what would that new assignment be?" asked Herbert, upon finally catching the food can.

"I have to break a unit" said Sylva.

"Excuse me, what does that…" started Herbert, tough he never finalized the sentence.

Something hit his head, fast and hard enough to put him out of commission, but not hard enough to break his skull. Sylva had hit him with a little extensible metal baton similar to a small japanese _tonfa_. He always carried one or two of those.

Pulling out a little mechanical device from his pocket, Sylva looked at the now unconscious old man in the floor while turning on the device and listening to the majority of the tech of the shop to emit a little "beep" and shut down.

"And the best way to break a unit as competent and united as the one I have to break" said Sylva, still looking to the man, with quite the displeased look, actually "is to attack its weakest link"

* * *

"So, you are telling me that my daughter is completely recovered" asked Chen Lin to the doctor that was in charge of his daughter's rehabilitation.

"Completely, completely… Her hands are functional again. But she will note how her sensibility in them has decreased; and of course the scars are forever. But you should be thankful. To recover this fast and this good from such an injury is rather… unconventional, I would even say improbable, impossible. It looks like a miracle, like magic" answered the doctor. They were in one of the office of the hospital. While Chen was currently discussing with the doctor, his mother and wife were helping Hay Lin to pack all the clothing that they had carried to her in the hospital.

"But still… you commented to me that your daughter likes to paint, didn't you Mr. Lin?" continued the doctor.

The chinese middle aged man nodded. "She loves it" said Chen. This was the hard part, and the worst of it was that he knew that it was coming.

"Well… I will be frank with you. Even if your daughter's hands can now function normally, her lost of sensibility in them will mean that, even if she can face a normal day's usual challenges, like grabbing a glass of water, or hold a doorknob; she will lack the sensibility to make the most precise moves, like thread a needle or…"

"Or holding a paintbrush" ended Chen for the doctor; head down and hands in his knees, pressuring so strong that he could feel little drops of blood getting out of a few little wounds he was inflicting in his legs.

"Look, Mr. Chen. It's likely that your daughter would have to face this reality eventually. As a teenager, the emotional load can be as bad as the wounds in her hands for her. If you would like to accept a counsel, it would be a good idea to send her to… the hands of a professional"

"What do you mean by professional?" asked Chen Lin, raising his head and looking at the doctor with angry eyes. Was he insinuating that his daughter was insane?

"I'm… not trying to insult your daughter, Mr. Lin. It's just that it will be the best to her to count with some… extra help aside from family and friends. Look" the doctor opened one of the desk's drawers and pulled a little card out of it. He handled it to Chen afterwards "This is a very good teenage psychologist. He has a consult here in Heatherfield. It's, also, not very expensive; at least for a private psychologist. Just, give it a look, okay? For Hay Lin's well being."

Chen exited the office and put the card in his pocket. He would give it a try. After all, Hay Lin loved painting, even when she painted with her bare fingers princesses that shot laser beams from their eyes as a child.

Speaking of Hay Lin, she was now exiting her room, sat down in a wheelchair with a bag full of clothing in her lap; her mother riding the wheelchair, and her grandmother in tow; carrying a little bag too.

"I still don't know why it's the wheelchair necessary" stated Hay Lin. "I can walk!"

"Rules of the…" started her grandmother.

"Of the hospital, I know grandma" mocked Hay Lin. "I hope that I don't have to see this wheelchair again."

While Hay Lin and her mother started to head to the exit, Chen made his way to his mother's side; and without the need of the elder to say anything, he picked the small bag from her and carried it.

"What did the doctor say?" asked mother to son.

"Nothing that he didn't say last time; unfortunately. He gave me this target, though." Chen handled the little card to his mother. "He said that it will be good if Hay Lin assist to it." Chen adjusted his glasses while his mother was reading the contents of the target.

Yan Lin sighed. "We will give it a try. But it will be after Christmas; I don't want to bring a black cloud above everyone's head after all that they had witnessed. We will wait" declared Yan Lin.

And the whole Lin family head out the hospital; Hay Lin happy that she finally could dispatch the wheelchair; hoping she would never see the thing again.

* * *

In the Cook residence, Taranee was peacefully sitting on the sofa of the living room, reading a book; while her brother was, of course, watching TV.

"Could you please lower the volume?" said Taranee to her brother "I'm trying to read here, you know?"

Peter lowered the volume as indicated, and then asked to his sister "What are you reading anyway?"

"The Never-ending Story, of Michael Ende" answered Taranee.

"Oh, I have seen that movie. Didn't know the made a book about it" Said then Peter, just to get a scold from Taranee, who closed the book and, sighing, rose from her seat and left the room. "What did I say?" said then Peter, confused.

While Taranee was heading for her room, she sensed something in her head. Some sort of alarm, like a signature emitted by someone. She knew what meant. Accelerating, she burst into her room and picked her mobile phone from her bedside table. She started to push the bottoms and making a call, just to stop. Thinking it more, she ditched the mobile to the side and, sitting on her bed, she concentrated her thoughts. After that, why do you need to use a phone to call your friends if you are able to speak with them telepathically?

So, Taranee concentrated and, after a few minutes, she was able to send her thoughts for the entire city, reaching only the people who she was searching for. " _Hay Lin is back_ "

All across the city, three girls received the thought of Taranee.

Irma Lair jumped from her seat in her house in joy; Cornelia Hale, in the other hand, just smiled serenely. As for Wilhelmina Vandom, she was walking the streets of Heatherfield with Matt when she received the message, heading for his grandfather's pet shop. After all, Will had a part-time job there.

The redhead smiled and Matt, noticing this, asked what was going on. "Hay Lin is out of the hospital."

"So, we are going to investigate that spot at the port that you found?"

"Yes, when we are all reunited. I don't want to face something that we don't know about just with the team partially formed."

"Well, you have us, too" said Matt referring to his fellow Regents and him. "If we could overpower Nerissa and the brainwashed ex-Guardians working together, we will be able to stop anything that it's thrown at us."

"You know, it's no good to overconfidence in oneself" said Will.

"I'm not doing that! But it's not bad either to have confidence in yourself when your abilities back it up. I don't know who created that robot you speak about, but they will have to send something much stronger to overpower two… oh" retorted Matt making a stupid face.

"Yeah, that's what Taranee likes to call tempting fate" answered Will with a smirk, mocking the fact that her boyfriend had just stated that their new and unknown enemies could be much more powerful than anticipated.

The young couple continued walking towards the shop. While more days passed since the attack, more and more healed the wounds, both physical and psychological; but the scars were left behind. Even if she said so, Will was worried of starting a movement. She was worried about making a move and that everything exploded again. Strategies never can go a hundred percent as planned; and as a leader, Will was worried about her teammates. And of course, about her boyfriend too. For some reason, even if knowing that, as a Regent, Matt was more powerful than a Guardian (after all, the Hearth of Earth was redistributed between three and the one of Kandrakar between five) she was worried about him. About their families and friends; the people that walked in the street, the men and women that waited in home for the panic state that the city was now to dissolve.

Matt, of course, had noticed this behavior. He knew that Will was afraid of moving first. Wanting to protect everyone, she was doing what she told Cornelia she didn't want to do. She was reacting to an attack. She was delaying the ordeal, she was expecting something to pop out of the corner the street and attack them. It had cost the Earth Regent a lot of work and talk to finally convince Will that she didn't need to be afraid of it. People made their decisions; and her team's decision was to fight back by her side. Same went for the Regents. Hell, even the fucking Oracle gave them orders (or was it permission? It was never clear with any Oracle) to stop whoever was behind that!

But a part of him liked the fact that Will cared so much about others that she doubted how to act in order to try and safe everyone. When he was Shagon, Matt usually watched Nerissa's behavior from the corner of his own mind where his essence had been relegated. She didn't care. She just… threw all her pieces into battle, not caring what happened to them. As long as she remained untouched, save, and victorious in the end; anything else was irrelevant for the fallen Guardian. He was glad that Will was as different from her as a porcupine is from an albatross.

But they had being waiting for Hay Lin exiting the hospital and Christmas was over their heads. Good luck trying something then. So they had to act now or never.

They reached the pet shop and entered it. They were surprised that the door was locked; good luck that Matt always carried a key. Even more surprisingly was the fact that the shop was completely empty.

"Gramps? Are you here?" asked Matt to the emptiness of the shop. He, clearly, didn't have an answer. The shop was empty and silent. For some reason, not even the animals were growling or making any sound at all. They weren't sleeping either. They were just there, not moving or making any sound. Will took notice of this. She had interacted with these animals since day one at the shop; it wasn't normal that they were so… so… not-alive; so silent. It wasn't just abnormal; it was unnatural and disturbing. Something was wrong with the shop today. She could _feel_ something wrong with the shop, something odd. She tried to discern what was it, so she concentrated, concentrated… Maybe the cameras could tell her something about what was going on in the shop today…?

"I will go and see if he is in the back of the shop" explained Matt, to go and, of course, found nobody there. The teenager waited a moment. Perhaps his grandfather had head out without informing him? Getting back to the principal stay of the shop, he noticed that the stray cat that his gramps had rescued not long ago wasn't there. Ah, there it was the explanation. He was probably out with someone that had bought the cat, he supposed.

But then Matt saw Will. And Will wasn't looking well or normal. Her skin had become pale; her eyes were looking into nothingness. She looked like she was in shock. Matt approached her.

"Will, are you okay?" asked matt to his girlfriend. Will was not listening to him, though. She was trying to _listen_ to the cameras, to the alarms, to the light bulbs… but there was nothing, nothing at all.

"Will…? You are scaring me…" said Matt again, trying to gain the girl's attention.

"Th-there is nothing…" whispered Will.

"Nothing of what?" asked again Matt. Now he _really_ was getting scared.

"Nothing… the cameras, the lights, everything… It's not just that they are shut down; they… simply aren't. The only thing that is there…"

"Will…?"

"Matt, call everyone. We are going to the port now!" shouted Will to her boyfriend.

"Will can you tell me what the fuck is going on?! Were the hell is my grandfather?!" He looked into her eyes, and she looked into his.

"I don't now but… but…" started Will moving her head rapidly.

"But what?!" shouted again Matt.

Will looked at him again. "A static sound" whispered the redhead. And as soon as they had closed the shop, the two of them were running and calling for everyone, Matt sprouting wings and skyrocketing to the skies.

Alas, the young couple would soon find that, even if you try the hardest; you can't always save everyone.

* * *

*SPLASH*

A bucket of cold water was all that was necessary to awake the unconscious Herbert Olsen. The old man gasped and shivered upon the contact of the cold liquid. Where was he? What was happening? Those were the first questions that passed upon his brain.

For the first one, he found answer quite fast. He was in a chair. A wooden chair in a darkened room (or at least he thought that it was a room), which only illumination was a little bulb over him, casting light over the spot where he was sat down. Of course, once known that he was on a chair; the first impulse of the man was, of course, getting up. But when trying, he found that both his wrists and ankles were tied up to the chair. Trying to sway in it, he found out that the chair, which now he was discovering metallic; was also quite secured to the ground. So, for the time being, no moving from there, which meant that the _where_ was reserved to that chair.

The second question was harder to answer. What was happening? He looked around. Even seeing nothing but dark, he noticed that he hadn't his glasses on. He didn't like that. Without his glasses, the man didn't see anything around. So the brain of Herbert Olsen, unable to discern what was happening, opted for the fastest way to obtain information that a human possess. It made Mr. Olsen to ask a question.

"What is this? What is going on? Hello, can someone hear me?" asked the old man. Of course, then he figured that there must be someone that could hear him. After all, _someone_ had to throw all that water to him. As if acknowledging his deduction, a voice came behind him. Unable to turn around, Mr. Olsen kept silence.

"Yes, I can hear you, Mr. Olsen. Or Herbert? Do you mind if I call you Herbert?" said the voice, answering and pulling its own question in return.

"I don't mind, really" answered the old man. "But how do I call you? Have we met before?"

"Well, of course. Oh, don't tell me that I damaged your memory at letting you unconscious. Remember the shop? Raphael…?"

"Raphael Sylva." Said the old man. "You are that man buying the cat, one of Matt's teachers… What did you do with the cat?! Also, why am I here?"

"Well, for the first one, the cat is waiting in the house that will be inhabited by her new owners in Christmas by now. She is well, I left food and drink for her, I set up a little bedroom, and let a target for her new owners to discover and name her." Sylva made a pause, and for some reason, his tone of voice dropped. "And for the second one, I told you. I had to break a unit." Behind him, Herbert could hear some metallic noises, like the ones made by a dentist while pilling up some of the tools used to clean a cavity from your teeth.

"I'm not a part of any unit" said Herbert. "Listen, Mr. Sylva… I'm not the man you are looking…"

"Oh, oh; but of course you aren't the man I'm looking for. Of course you aren't part of any unit; that's ridiculous. But, you see Herbert; you are the weakest link in the unit… even if you are not part of it. No family except your grandson, not a much complicated security system in your shop, not friends aside from the animals… You, Herbert, are the weakest part of the unit. And, if you don't recall it, I will tell you again; the easiest way to break a unit; it's to attack its weakest link. And now, we are going to do exactly that."

Herbert noted how Sylva pulled something over his eyes to block his view. Some sort of bandage, for sure. The old man could hear how Sylva positioned himself to his side, and how the blond glasses-wearing man took one of the fingers of one of his tied down hands. Then he could feel something making pressure to that finger's fingernail.

"It has passed… years, I think; since I tortured someone; maybe I lost practice. I actually don't like torture. It's just goes against my way of dealing with my objectives. But, you are not my objective, but a mean to achieve it. So, lets us start with the fingernails, okay Herbert?"

Sylva used a pair of tiny tongs to pull of one of Herbert's fingernails. It wasn't fast; the end was not to tear the nail. The act was made slowly, patiently, Sylva making sure that Herbert felt every bit of the nail separating from the finger and then falling to the ground; leaving nothing more than a bloody raw fingertip. Although, Herbert didn't scream. It was painful, but he didn't want to give Sylva the satisfaction of hearing his scream. He did whimper a little when Sylva made the second and third nails hit the floor. At the fourth one, Herbert screamed. It wasn't a scream full of his energy; but the pain that Sylva was inflecting on his fingers reflected itself in the elderly man's voice.

Sylva continued to tear off Herbert's fingernails; until the ten of them were in the floor, alongside with the drops of blood that were falling from Herbert's fingertips; now all ten of them reddish meat; without the protection of the hardened cells that form the nails of every human.

Herbert was breathing at top speed after that. With his eyes unable to see; his sense of touch had skyrocketed. Due to that, the sensation of being stripped of everyone of his fingernails so slowly only worsened. He perceived movement from his right. Sylva was returning behind him. And Herbert could hear the sound of the tools being moved again.

"Why…?" was able to say Herbert. "Why do all of this? Why?" No response from Sylva's part. Only more sounds of the moving tools. "Why, dam it, why?! Tell me why you are doing this?!"

"Have you ever seen Return of the Jedi, Herbert?" asked Sylva, whose voice came now from the old man's left. The blond man had abandoned the place behind Herbert.

Herbert kept silent for a moment. "What?" the old man whispered. What had a film to do with any of it? "I'm… afraid I didn't"

"You see; Return of the Jedi is the final part of the original Star Wars Trilogy. Yesterday, my boss _paid me_ with a day off and I went to watch it in the cinema. It wasn't my first choice, but there was a reposition and, well; it's Star Wars. Who doesn't like Star Wars? Everyone does; unless you are dead inside or a fan of Star Trek, of course. Are you a _trekkie_ , Herbert?"

"Eh… no?" Herbert didn't know what to answer; neither had he known what a trekkie was. This situation was surreal. Then he noted how Sylva was tying something around his arm; quite strongly. The glassed man continued speaking. He also was giving little claps to Herbert's tied arm.

"Well, whatever. As I was saying, I watched the film again the other day. And it was as awesome as I remembered it. The final space battle, the final duel between Luke and Vader, the Emperor… But, there were the Ewoks, too. And, as many others, I think that those things only ruined the movie. There is a rumor that said that they were going to be Wookies; but they didn't go through that route. So, I had an epiphany. It doesn't matter how good something can be; it can always be better. And the same can apply to this job of mine. So, my boss wanted to me to wait for him… but that would have ended in _him_ , and _not me_ , getting all the fun and surprises. So, for the first time in my career, I have decided to disobey my employer. I decided that I will not stand aside for the probably most incredible mission of my life. And, there is where you take your role, Herbert. You are the device that will allow me to achieve my goal."

"Why… why do you want to do… that?" asked a now even more confused Herbert.

"Ah, all in time. I'll answer to that too. But for the moment, Herbert, you are going to _scream_ " assured him the blond glassed man; his jovial tone of voice decreasing to deeper tone once more.

Herbert kept silence. Sylva continued to give claps to the old man's arm. When finished, he nailed something in the shopkeeper's arm, injecting something in his bloodstream. At first, Herbert didn't felt anything. Then it started, from his head, for it to spread to his torso and then to his limbs. It was pain. But not a normal pain, it was as if someone had inserted melting metal in his veins. Herbert tried to hold it back, but his efforts were useless and irrelevant. The pain didn't stop. It actually intensified. And Herbert couldn't keep it under control.

So the old man screamed, screamed as powerful as his old lungs permitted him. If someone could have seen his eyes; they could have seen them injected in blood from whatever Sylva injected him.

Meanwhile, the glasses-wearing blond man stood there silently. Neither a smile nor an enthusiastic look on his face. He really didn't like torture; it was so… one-sided. Your opponent couldn't fight back, couldn't surprise you with some sort of comeback or counter strategy… It was really boring. What was the catch of injuring someone if you couldn't be injured yourself?

* * *

In the port, the Guardians and the Regents had made their way to the zone where Will was feeling the static sound; each one of them in their magical forms. The redhead couldn't tell where the origin was exactly, but she could feel that it was there somewhere.

"Okay everyone, split out in teams of two. One Regent and one Guardian if possible in order to maintain contact. Look for every part of this port that looks suspicious and report it if you find something that seems odd or related to the attack" said the redhead. Then both Guardians and Regents split. Mr. Huggles went with Taranee; Napoleon with Cornelia; Irma teamed up with Hay Lin and Will flew up with Matt. Scattered around the port and avoiding the people working there, each pair started seeking out anything that looked suspicious.

While flying, the redhead leader was getting more and more worried. Matt's grandfather had been caught in this. Shit, why didn't she got to this fucking, stupid port when she already knew that whatever clue they could gather was there? Why couldn't she have taken Cornelia and Irma, and investigate themselves? Why she had to wait for Kandrakar, or for the team to be complete?

" _Will; it's not your fault_ " said a voice inside her head. Will almost lost the concentration needed to fly and stopped herself in midair.

" _Taranee, it's that you? How can you hear me if I'm not directing my thoughts…?"_ asked telepathically the redhead.

" _Will, everyone can hear you. You are so worried that you are projecting your thoughts unconsciously. And I agree with Taranee, it's not your fault_ " said then Cornelia's telepathic voice. " _You often say that bad emotions tend to cloud your judgment. It has been your boyfriend's gramps, but it could have been my sister or Hay Lin's parents"_

 _"_ _Corny has it right, Will. You will have time to throw your hands to your head and ask yourself for what could have been done, or whatever you want to angst about. But now it's not the time. If it wasn't for you, Matt and you would still be in the shop thinking that Mr. Olsen has jut out for a while?"_

Will didn't think back. Her friends were right.

" _Oh, she can't deny my argument!_ " said Irma via telepathy link.

" _Feel proud of it, because I don't think that's going to be repeated anytime soon._ " Mocked telepathically Cornelia.

" _Oh, shut up Corny. Aside from Taranee, everyone here has similar grades_ " retorted Irma.

" _Eh, guys?"_ it was Hay Lin, stopping any possible durable discussion between the blonde and the brunette, _"don't want to interrupt, but… I think that I found something_ "

" _Oh, yeah! There is definitely something suspicious about that, Hay-Hay_ " said then Irma, who had directed her attention back to her surroundings and was seeing now the same as Hay Lin

" _Please, could you share with the others?_ " asked Taranee to the duo.

" _Well, there is a… one of those bunkers of the port, I think_ " thought Irma for her companions.

" _And there is a big hole in it too_ " complemented Hay Lin.

" _Okay_ " thought Will. " _We will give it a try. Tell to everyone to head in your direction_ "

" _Yes, ma'am_ " answered the Water Guardian.

" _Okay_ " said the chinese girl.

"Matt, listen. Hay Lin and Irma have found something. We should move to where they are, okay?

Her boyfriend turned to face her and gave Will a silent nod. Then he started to fly in the Water-Air duo's direction. Will waited a little until following Matt; tiny blue greenish wings following after big black ones. Will looked to the sky. " _Just spent Christmas with my family and my boyfriend_ " she thought. " _That's all I asked for. Is it so difficult?_ "

* * *

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"So, as I was telling you, Herbert" said Raphael Sylva at the same time of breaking one of Herbert's fingers; moving it upwards until the phalanx shattered. "The moment when I realized that I was meant to dedicate my life to this job was, more or less, when I was five years old" Sylva picked another phalanx.

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

And broke it like the first one. "Please, don't think that I'm going to tell you some traumatic origin story; because I won't. My childhood was pretty good, actually. Mother was caring, father was responsible and a very working man. They taught me a lot of things, and I'm very grateful to them. Hold on for a second, almost done with this one…"

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

Another finger crushed. Herbert was unable to speak or protest. The screams from the burning sensation earlier had left his throat completely shredded. The only sounds that his vocal cords were producing were the screams of pain. Sylva picked the next finger.

"One day, my parents went out, and I ended alone in my house. During that time, I grown pretty attached to those old cowboy films that my father always watched. I always used to play that I was some sort of soldier. And that day I decided to level up the game"

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"So I picked my old man's shotgun, and started to play with it in the garden that was in my house's back. I spotted a bird in a tree and, almost knowing nothing about guns, I fired the thing; which turned out to have been loaded all along. Blame the old man for that one." Sylva started to thrust another one of Herbert's fingers.

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"Okay, almost done with this hand, Herbert. So, of course, the bird fell to the ground dead; the poor thing's chest completely torn out from the bullet impact. And I felt disgusted. I threw the shotgun to the ground and tried to help the bird; to no result. Then Herbert; was when the miracle happened. Another bird, this one larger, appeared practically out of nowhere and attacked me! Now I know that it probably was the little one's mother. The animal attacked and I defended myself. See this?" Sylva rolled up one of his sleeves, showing Herbert three little scars in his forearm. "First battle scars, product of the animal claws! So, in the battle, I was able to put both my hands around the bird's neck and strangle it with my bare hands. And that felt good. Not because of the killing, but because the animal and I struggled; it fought back! There is something… magical in the struggle of battle. I attack, or I defend; but the thrill, the emotions, the… tiny details that make everything beautiful… Only in those moments, when my life is in total danger, when my enemy is able to let the best of himself against me! Only in those times I'm… me." Sylva returned his attention to Herbert's finger. "That's why I hate torture. You are there, chained or tied up; and I'm here, me the only one able to move, me the only one in control, me the only one able to… hurt you. It's just so… cold, so impersonal… Alas, I understand the benefits of torture."

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"You…" was Herbert able to say, with the little strength that his throat was capable off. "You are insane, you twisted…"

"Yes, I have heard that before, Herbert, thank you" said Sylva, while moving himself to Herbert's other hand.

"Sylva, you are too violent towards your training companions, you insane grunt!; said the instructors"

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"Sylva! You are not allowed to free prisoners from their cells in order to fight with them! Are you fucking nuts, boy?!, said the commanders."

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"Raphael Sylva. You have been pleaded guilty by this tribunal of the accusation of unnecessary violence towards enemies and allies alike. On this basis, you are immediately expelled out of the Army of the United States of America and sentenced to five years in prison; said the judges of the tribunal"

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"You twisted fuck, you killed him!; said my dear prison mates when I beat the crap out of some of them. I mean, it's not like they were saints, of something like that, eh Herbert?"

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"I had to spent years, YEARS, outside this country because they thought that I am insane. I am the insane one? Who throws people to the armed hands of their enemies and then said ' _this is horrible_ ' while eating a fucking steak, safe in their bunkers and houses? Who says _attack_ and then scandal themselves if a kid beats an enemy until is nothing more than a pulp of blood, meat and crashed bones? I'm not insane, Herbert."

*CRACK*

*SCREAM*

"I'm not a psychopath, or a serial killer. I'm just suited to the reality of this world better than any of you; and I was intelligent enough to make a job out of it"

Sylva ended his speech; breaking Herbert's tenth and final finger. The ten of tem completely twisted upwards; Herbert incapable of managing the pain that was born in them and that quickly run upwards to his brain.

The old man started to cry and sob; tears and mucus pouring out of his eyes and nostrils. "Please, make it stop… please…"

"See, Herbert?" asked the blond man, again behind Herbert. This time the sound was more intense. It sounded like something heavy. "There it is the reason of my hate of torture. You are begging. I distaste begging."

"Then… Then go to hell, you insane psychopath!"

"See? That's more like it." Sylva had returned to his side, and pulling of the bandage around Herbert's eyes, he let the man see him; putting something all over Herbert's face; like some sort of sauce. "You like animals, don't you, Herbert? Well, you should know what I put in your face. If you are too socked to understand; it's food. Actually, it's caramel. Since you like animals, you must love this one" Sylva showed Herbert something in a pair of big pincers. It was some kind of insect; like a cross between an ant and a beetle; but larger than the two. As huge as Herbert's hand, to be more precise. "Like it? Pretty gruesome for a bug, eh? I have other three in a box; found them in South America. And you know what?" Sylva brought closer the insect to Herbert's face. The animal started to emit a bunch of sounds from its mouth. Or whatever that could be called. The animal was black, with long pincers in its head, which actually looked more like decoration than functional. But in his _mouth_ , the bug had little fangs that didn't stop from moving and segregating a white slime that Herbert was secure to say it had to be some sort of corrosive fluid.

"They love caramel Herbert" said Sylva. "And almost everything that it's attached to it" Then the man put the bug in Herbert's face. Upon doing that the blond man started to pull out the other three from the box; and as done with the first one; pulling them onto Herbert's face too.

They started with the caramel and only with the caramel. But, little by little, they started to bite the old man's face. At first it was nothing, just a bunch of little scraps and wounds; but after a few bites, the insects became more voracious, and started to bite quite the pieces of meat of the old man's face. Herbert didn't scream at first. He just stared hatefully at Sylva, who in return paid him with a smile.

"There you go, Herbert. This is the final stage. Now if you excuse me, I will leave you here and" the mercenary pull out a little mechanical device from his pocket "make a _call_ " and then the blonde pressed a button in the device, activating something.

* * *

Back in the port; both Guardians and Regents were now investigating point that Hay Lin had judged suspicious. Well, calling it suspicious was a euphemism. It was a container, similar to others that could be spotted in the port, but it was larger; designed to contain something bigger. That was the first clue. Second one was the fact that there was an enormous hole on top of the container; almost as if something big had jumped inside out. The third clue was what the group found inside the container.

Inside the metallic structure were several computer screens, each one with multiple cables that went from the screens to a series of innumerable CPUs. In the middle of the room that the interior of the container really was; just under the hole in the container; was a spot where the majority of the cables coincided. Now it was empty; but for the girls, it was clear what had been there. Then the fourth clue came.

One of the screens, actually one that looked pretty small in comparison with the others, stated to show a recording. In the screen, appeared Will, repeating over and over again "At the mall at five thirty".

"Hey, Will; isn't that you?" signaled Cornelia to her team leader.

The redhead approximated the screen and, horrified, checked that it really was her. Sighing, the redhead directed herself to her teammates and the Regents. "Okay, I think that there is no doubt that the robot came from here"

Then the other screens started to play, making the group of girls and their companions to fall to a defensive position. But it wasn't an attack. The screens were just showing images. Ironically, the images were not better than any attack.

One image showed Will and Matt in one of their dates. Other one showed Cornelia playing with Lillian outside their house. Hay Lin taking out the trash of the Silver Dragon; Irma was practicing driving with her father; Taranee reading a book in her house's porch.

Other images were of the whole group at Sheffield; in a coffee shop, or simply walking. There were images of their families too. Of their parents and their siblings. Of old good Herbert Olsen; working hard in his pet shop; rubbing his shoulders after putting a quite large animal food sack in the floor. Matt looked to that screen in particular. His hands made fists.

"Creepy" whispered Hay Lin, looking at the images.

"You don't say" corroborated Taranee.

Irma and Cornelia were too socked to say something. As different and bickering at each other as they were; only the other understood what was to have an (as they liked to call them) annoying but cute younger sibling. Seeing those images, with detailed tracing of both Lillian's and Chris' lives, was something that neither of them was okay with.

"And now, what do we do?" asked Matt, without letting his sight off from the screen showing his grandfather. Everyone directed their attention to Will, looking for whatever strategy the redhead could come with.

Will noticed every stare upon her. Looking side to side, she breathed deeply. "Well, priority would be finding Mr. Olsen. I could try using my Quintessence to make these thinks talk to us, but I don't know if it will work out. If only we could know where to begin with…"

As if answering Will's demands, another of the screen started to play. But this time it wasn't any image. It was only sound. The sound of a voice; to be more precise.

"Hello, there" said the voice. "If you are listening to this, it means that you all have made it to my little hideout. Congratulations! Next step is: Guess out who am I?!" the voice had a enthusiastic thrill in it; almost like a child that opens his Christmas presents violently, eager to find out what they are.

The girls stared in confusion at the voice record. None of them knew what say to that. Silence took hold of the entire group until the voice sounded again. "Look, neither you nor I have all the day to do this; remember? People to save!"

That triggered Matt's temper. "You asshole! If you have done something to my grandfather I will murder you!" shouted the winged teenager to the screen.

"Look, neither you nor I have all the day to do this; remember? People to save!" answered the device.

"It's just a recording, Matt" assured him Hay Lin; but Matt didn't take it well. The Regent punched one of the other screens and shattered it to pieces. Napoleon put a hand in his companion's shoulder; both to tranquilize him and control his wrath.

"Look, neither you nor I have all the day to do this; remember? People to save!" said the recording again.

"Oh, shut up already!" shouted Irma to the device.

"I think that until we say the man's name (because I doubt that that's a woman's voice) it'll keep saying that" declared Taranee.

"Then, we start saying male names until we found the correct one?'" asked Cornelia.

"Rupert!" shouted Hay Lin.

"Look, neither you nor I have all the day to do this; remember? People to save!" said the screen again; to Hay Lin's sadness.

"I was joking, Hay Lin" said Cornelia to the asian girl; who just looked to her friend with a little same.

Meanwhile Will walked to the screen. There was something in that voice that she recognized. She had heard that voice… for the last three months. The redhead realized.

"Look, neither you nor I have all…" started to say the recording again.

"Raphael Sylva" said Will to the screen. The recording ended and was replaced by a sound very similar to the one that makes a console when you have defeated a level boss.

"Bingo!" said the recording now.

"Wait, Raphael Sylva? As in, our teacher?" asked Hay Lin to Will.

"Yeah, the voice sounded familiar; and there are computers all over this place. It looks more like a giant clue to who he is. Also, never really liked the guy. Very weird vibes from him" said the Keeper of the Hearth.

"Great, _another_ nice person who turns out to be an asshole. What's next? It turns out that Mrs. Knickerbocker is an old sorceress too? A little puppy in the street turns out to be a werewolf? One of our dads results in being Darth Vader?" said Irma, her sarcasm summarizing up almost everything that run in the Guardians head at the moment.

"Now, if all of you please look here" said Sylva's recording while an image took the screen, showing a map of Heatherfield, with a little mark over a building in the outskirts. "If you want whoever I have kidnapped by now back; just go where the Big Red X points. Have a nice day" and the screen, and all the others shut down.

"A trap?" asked Napoleon to the girls.

"A trap, obviously" answered Taranee.

"So, what do we do?" asked Matt, fist still clenched, eager to go to his grandfather's aid.

"We activate the trap" declared Will, to hold the Hearth of Kandrakar up and teleport the whole group to the location that had been shown to them.

* * *

In that location; Raphael Sylva was currently preparing his arsenal in the rooftop of the building where he had tortured Herbert. Two shotguns, a sniper rifle, various grenades and of course, his faithful pair of handguns; all of them loaded with special piercing bullets. If those girls were strong enough to resist a strike from the MK I; they were strong enough for normal bullets. Prevention is better than cure; as the people says.

Sylva was took by surprise when he heard something and, looking over the edge of the roof; he saw the whole group of his students; plus two… _things_ that he didn't recognize; but that looked quite similar to the Doctor's _pet_.

" _Dammit, they shouldn't been here so soon! And who; no, what the hell are those two?_ " thought Sylva. He wasn't preparing himself to face _eight_ opponents. Still, surprises like those made life more interesting. But the boss didn't know about them. Dam; he had been inefficient. Alas; these was just a little setback. Luckily, he would only fight the girls directly. Matt and the other two would have to cope with… the present he had left downstairs. Sylva looked at the group of teenagers and beasts entering the building and get back to his weapons. He put his handguns in their sheaths; put the sniper rifle at his back, and picked up the shot gun. This was going to be the culmination of his career; of his entire life!

Sylva smiled. It was a sincere smile, almost like a child. He sighed and relaxed his muscles; clacked his neck and started to march upon the spot he had chosen in order to wait for the enemy. He breathed deeply and then adjusted his glasses.

"Rock n' roll"

* * *

Inside the building, both magical groups were searching for Mr. Olsen. It didn't take too long until Matt torn up one door that leaded to a large lounge in darkness; except for a tiny light bulb.

In the center of the room, under that same light bulb, was Herbert Olsen; still tied to the metallic chair. Matt overjoyed himself upon seeing his grandfather and rushed to him, but stopped himself upon seeing in what state the old man was.

Herbert Olsen had four bug-like animals predating his head. On top of that, the animals had devoured much of his skin and flesh. His teeth were now visible; because the cheeks and lips had disappeared. The nose was half devoured by the insects; as was the right ear and part of the left one. Worst part was the top of the head; which had been so nibbled by the insects that parts of the skull could be seen.

Matt rushed to his grandfather; and taken by fury, took the insects from his head. The animals hissed to him; bothered that someone interrupted their meal. Matt simply disintegrated them with a blast of energy. Tears running down his eyes, Matt unhanded his grandfather and took him in his arms. Dropping to his knees; the winged teenager held the old man in his arms; almost like an adult holding a baby. The old man still breathed.

His Regent companions rushed towards him; and so did the girls. Will tried to put her hand in Matt's shoulder. She wanted to be there with him, comfort him. But Matt negated the touch with a movement of his wings. "Go get him" whispered the young man.

"Matt…" said Will, weakness in her voice.

"I said go get Sylva; before I get to him myself and I tear him apart!" shouted Matt.

"We will be here with him, go for the man" said Napoleon to the quintet of girls.

The Guardians flew from the scene; exiting the almost completely dark room and leaving the Regents behind. Then they flew upwards; upstairs, to the roof of the building.

"Sylva must be in the rooftop" said Will "I want all of you to proceed carefully; we don't know what he may have prepared for us. Also, remember that we need him alive, ok?"

"Will, I think that neither of us…" Hay Lin's declaration was interrupted when Cornelia put a hand in her shoulder an indicated to the Air Guardian to kept silence with a head movement.

"Just to make it clear" continued Will. "We need him…" memories of Mr. Olsen flashed in her mind; of the old man smiling in the store; congratulating Matt for getting together with her. Of showing her a photo of a younger him and a little Matt, sitting in his lap; while her boyfriend just blushed in an innocent shame. The Keeper of the Hearth clenched her fists and a bolt of Quintessence fueled through them; a determined and furious look in her eyes. "Alive"

The door to the roof was pushed so hard that it fell from its hinges. From behind it the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions came one by one. The team fell in combat position; each of the five members in line; with Will in the center. Across the rooftop, Raphael Sylva waited for them; armed to the teeth, a smile in his face. Will noted that the field that their adversary had chosen was actually quite large. This building must had been an industrial factory or something like that in the past. Against her and her comrades, who could fly; it wasn't a very wise decision to fight in such an open area. The Guardians were in disadvantage in closed sites; not open ones. So, either Sylva was an idiot; thing that Will severely doubted; or he had a plan to fight them there.

"Mr. Sylva" saluted Will to the man.

"Dear students" greeted the mercenary to the group; not hiding the mockery of his chose of words. "Glad to see you made here so quickly"

"Cut the crap out, please" said Irma to the blonde man; not trying to hide the despise that she felt towards her ex-computer teacher.

"The thing that attacked us in the mall" said then Taranee, getting to the important point. "Was it sent by you?"

"The MK I? Of course it was. I thought that you all have get to that point with everything I leave in the port; Miss Cook"

"Then, who built it? I don't know exactly who you are but surely you don't have enough resources to build that thing" continued the Fire Guardian.

"Oh, I'm not going to tell you the name of the boss, young lady" said Sylva to the girls. "That's just a little riddle that you all will have to solve. I'm just doing my job; and actually feeling splendid about this assignment. I mean, did you have a good look at the machine. It was awesome!" Sylva's grin extended over his face even more.

"Awesome?" said Hay Lin, incapable of believing what she just had heard. "Do you know how many people died there?!" yelled the Air Guardian to the man.

"Approximately 362; more or less; or at least that's the official version" said the mercenary, resting importance to the fact that almost four hundred lives had been taken that day; all thanks to his efforts.

"This man is sick" declared Cornelia.

"I agree" said Will. "Listen! We are going to give you a chance of surrendering right now! We know that there is someone behind you; if you tell us who he or she is; we will not use violence in you"

"Surrender?!" Sylva laughed. "I have been waiting for this moment my entire live! You think I'm going to surrender? Ha! Stop joking girls; after all that I had done to the old man, I know that you all want to take a punch on me" Sylva then held the shotgun and pointed it in the girls' direction. "Just give me your best shot"

"You asked for it" said Will. "Girls..." Hay Lin took off from the ground and Irma and Taranee positioned themselves at Will's sides. Cornelia flew in the Air too, but took the tail of the team. She knew that her powers could be risky in a building like the one they were now.

Will generated a bolt of Quintessence in her right hand. "Give him hell" and she shot the lightning strike in Sylva's direction.

Surprised, but also amazed that that moment finally had caught up to him, Sylva dodged and shot a pair of bullets in the girls' direction. Cornelia pulled up some of the roof and used it to cover her teammates. The bullets impacted on it; making several cracks in the stone, but not piercing trough it.

" _Cornelia! Can you use your telekinesis in his weapons?!_ " thought Will to her companion.

" _I can't! He is too far!_ " thought back the blonde Guardian. Will sighed; Sylva shot again. Seeing that it was useless, the mercenary thought of changing strategy. And so did Will.

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Concentrate. Count to three.

Think fast. Find a weak spot. Strike by surprise.

Split in two.

" _Cornelia; take Taranee and attack Sylva from the left! Hay Lin, Irma; we will distract him_!"

Cornelia nodded; and heading behind her companions while still holding the stones that were part of the building a moment ago; she placed herself at Taranee's side; protecting the two of them with the rocks; the duo starting to move slowly.

" _Irma; bring all the snow that you can up here!_ " ordered Will to the Water Guardian. Irma did as she had been ordered and brought all of the snow produced to old General Winter to the rooftop. "Hay Lin…"

" _Snowstorm coming!_ " cheered the Air Guardian; unfolding a powerful current of wind that, mixing with the snow, created an ice storm in miniature; that blinded Sylva and blocked his aim.

The mercenary didn't panic, of course. If he couldn't see, neither could the enemy. This meant that he had to use a different kind of weaponry, one that allowed him to attack without aiming. Sylva picked one of his grenades and threw it in Will's, Irma's and Hay Lin's direction. The little instrument of destruction landed a few feet away from the girls.

" _What's that?"_ asked Hay Lin telepathically. Will didn't know; she hadn't see a grenade in her life. Irma, on the other hand, did.

" _Grenade! Run!_ " The trio flew upwards; dodging the explosion caused by the fruitlike weapon. Will was enraged even more; so she decided to add a little lightning to the storm. Releasing a powerful torrent of Quintessence from her hands, Will made the ice storm to become a full electrical ice hurricane. If someone could watch the battle from outside; they could have seen an enormous cloud covering the rooftop, with some lightning lighting it sometimes.

Sylva knew that this had to be a distraction. If not, they would have aimed for him in the first place. Or maybe it was that they wanted him alive? They had suggested to him to surrender… Shit, did they know about the boss? No, they couldn't; he had been careful. This has to be a diversion. But then, an attack should be…

*CLONK*

A piece of stone hit Sylva's whole body, sending him right to the ground. From his left, Cornelia had thrown at him one of the pieces of stone that she had been carrying. Behind her, covering her back was Taranee; with a ball of fire in her pal, that worked both as a promising attack and a lantern in the improvised storm.

" _Girls, you can dissipate this storm now. Taranee and I got him_ " said Cornelia, confident in that she had knocked Sylva out. While the other three started to dissipate the storm and bringing the weather around the rooftop to a normal, winter state; Cornelia proved herself wrong.

*BANG*

A shot cut the air, and Cornelia dropped to her knees; a hand holding her shoulder, that was now bleeding. Sylva was in his feet again, but he was also injured. His glasses were gone, nose broken, the mouth dripping blood; all of them injuries from the impact. But he still had a childlike smile in his face; now showing a mouth full of red teeth due to the blood.

Taranee answered to the attack preparing to throw the fire ball to Sylva. But when she aimed, her former techer was just there, arms opened; like someone prepared to give a hug. Taranee stopped herself. That man was no wizard. No Cedric, no Nerissa; not a Lurden or a Galhot. He was just a human. If she shot the fireball now, he would die for sure. What was she thinking?

Sylva chuckled; and then burst in laughter. Using the same weapon that he had used to shot Cornelia in the shoulder; she shot a couple of bullets to Taranee's feet, making her to lose concentration and dispel the fireball.

"Come on, Miss Cook! Come on; you are my enemy! Didn't I just shot your partner? Attack me, burn me, and incinerate me! You are here, and I'm here. It's not enough!"

Sylva then run into Taranee's direction, and not giving the Fire Guardian the opportunity to think back, he hit her with the back of his handgun. Then he prepared to shot at her.

"It doesn't matter how resistant you are, or how powerful you are! It's irrelevant if you can shot fire, or fly, or manipulate the weather! When you fight someone like me, you have to attack with the intent of killing!" Sylva then chuckled, looking at a horrified and scared Taranee. "But you can't! I have studied you all for months! I know how you think, how you act; and thanks to the MK I, I know how you fight! You are not at the…"

A lightning bolt smashed onto Sylva and knocked him to the ground. " _Shit, I forgot about the other three… I got too excited!_ "

Will dashed to Cornelia and Taranee; Hay Lin and Irma in tow. Hay Lin kneeled by Cornelia's side; and Irma generated a body of water that enveloped Sylva and held him captive.

Sylva chuckled, coughing a little puddle of blood at the same time. " _Well; it seems that you got me…_ " thought the mercenary to himself. It had been a very sort battle. But look at the results. Not anybody could say that they had put a bullet in magical creature's arm. Now he could.

Upon seeing this attitude, Irma became enraged. "You think this is funny?!" yelled the Water Guardian to the blonde man. "You think this is funny, you fucking psychopath?!"

Sylva's grin disappeared. "I'm not. A. Psychopath" said their ex-teacher; calmly but coldly.

"Of course not!" continued the Water Guardian. "You just have tortured an innocent man; sent a robot to kill hundredths of people, and monitored our lives for months!"

"Actually, Miss Lair; I began the investigation of you before starting the school year" answered Sylva.

"You arrogant…" Irma began to tighten her arm to throw a punch to Sylva's face; but Will stopped her. The redhead looked at Irma, indicating to calm herself. Irma breathed deeply, and lowered her arm.

Sylva looked at the Keeper of the Hearth. "Thank you, Miss Vandom" said the man in a polite tone.

"Shut it. The only reason that you are still breathing is because we need to know who is behind you" Will saw Sylva's eyebrows tremble a little upon her commentary. So it REALLY was someone behind him. This nightmare had not ended yet. She continued speaking. "But you had hurt my friends, you have killed innocent lives, you have _done something horrible to my boyfriend's family_ " sparks formed between Will's fingers unconsciously and her eyes flashed with Quintessence, prove of her anger. "But, you just tell us who is behind all of this; and…"

Sylva chuckled again. "And?" mocked the man. "You will let me free? You will forgive my life? You won't kill me? Have any of you heard what I just tell Miss Cook? I know how you think, and even if I have done so much pain to all of you; none of you have the guts to kill a man in cold blood; not even you, Wilhelmina."

The sparks that were into Will's hands become full lightning; and then she shot them into Sylva's direction. The lightning passed the false computer teacher; who didn't even finch.

Sylva laughed again. "See? You lack the strength"

Will charged her hands again, completely frustrated, tears dropping from her eyes. If she zapped the water prison with her powers, would Sylva die? Or maybe he just would get terribly wounded? She then noticed that someone was holding her shoulder. Looking at her side, the redhead saw Cornelia, standing up again; her wound not bleeding anymore, the bullet out of her shoulder. "Will, stop it. Don't fall for his words, okay? Look, we made it, and he will pay: I don't think that Kandrakar would let someone like him got free from what he has done. Also, do you really think that this is what Mr. Olsen would have liked to you to do?"

The redhead lowered her hands and let the lightning go. Then she shoved away the tears produced by anger that covered her eyes. "No" said Will. "He wouldn't have liked that".

The quintet was victorious. Still, Irma wanted to punch the guy, who just kept himself with that childlike smile on his face.

"Well; if you are not going to do what it takes to stop him… ALLOW ME TO DO SO!" said then a hammy male voice out of nowhere.

Then the rooftop exploded; and the quintet of Guardians took fly in order to avoid the fall. Irma lost concentration and Sylva got freed from his water prison; falling inside the floor of the building that was under the roof. There, the mercenary looked up and saw a figure that he never will forget in his entire life.

The Guardians looked down and saw the same figure that Sylva was eyeing. The same figure that had destroyed the roof. A figure that all of them were familiar with but that no one was expecting.

Will shocked upon watching who it was. "You… You are…!" shouted Will.

* * *

 ** _Before the explosion of the roof…_**

While the girls ascended to the roof in order to fight Sylva, the Regents had been with the severally injured but still alive Mr. Olsen. Matt still had the old man in his arms. Mr. Huggles was standing next to him, worried about his friend. For his part, Napoleon was a couple of feet distanced from his other animalistic comrade. He had told to the girls to go and fight the man named Sylva, but now he was reconsidering his judgment. Maybe it would have been a better idea to move Hebert Olsen to a safer place than this one first; make sure that he was out of danger before assaulting the enemy.

But Matt could not move from where he was. The teenager hadn't move a single muscle; thinking that the moment that he did it, his grandfather would shatter like some sort of glass figurine.

Then old good Herbert Olsen started to breath harder; and also babble some inconsistent words.

Matt looked at his grandfather; his eyes showing tears, but also relief. "Gramps?" said the winged teenager.

"Matt…?" was able to whisper the completely mutilated old man. "Is that you…?" Herbert held up a hand with completely twisted fingers; triyng to touch his grandson's face. Matt stopped him.

"Yes, it's me gramps, it's me. Don't move, I… I will get help" said Matt.

However, Herbert wasn't listening to his little boy; and touched the teen's face with his deformed tip. "Matt… you're so big. You were so small, not so long ago…" Herbert coughed, and a fair amount of blood followed his cough.

"Gramps, be quiet, I will get help for you, you've… you've to guard your energy…"

Herbert caressed his grandson cheek again. "My little boy has become… so big…"

"Gramps, please, you have to…"

"Have I ever told you…" another cough. In this one even more blood. "That you look exactly like your father…? The nose and the hair, for the other part… are from Sarah… My precious little Matt… It's a shame… I always wanted to go to one… of your concerts"

"Gramps, what are you…?" asked Matt, his voice trembling, unable to hold back the tears. He never got an answer. He never got a response. Herbert's hand felt from his grandson's cheek to the ground; his breath no more heard and his hearth not moving anymore. And just like that; Herbert Olsen, the working man who wished for a peaceful life; passed away n the arms of his grandson.

Matt held the old man in his arms a little longer. "Gramps, hey gramps." Called the teenager; a stupid smile covering his face. "Keep talking to me." Still no response, after all, a dead body cannot answer a question; or formulate one for that matter. A dead man is a dead man; and it cannot be brought back, at least without paying a very high price; for resurrecting the death is a crime against nature; a sin that wounds reality itself.

"Keep talking to me, old man!" shouted the powerless Regent to the corpse; tears running down his face. You can't do this to me, you can't abandon me too! You can't do to me the same thing they did! Live, you stupid old man, with your stupid pet shop, and your stupid newspaper and repulsive coffee at the morning…" Matt shouted impotent to the skies, not able to control his pain any more.

Mr. Huggles wanted to go and be with his companion, but Napoleon held the other humanoid animal and, negating with the head, he indicated that Matt needed to be alone.

"Sylva!" thought Matt. "Sylva! You monster, you killer! I… I…" something started to move inside Matt's mind, inside his soul. Something small and wimp; but that was becoming stronger by the moment, thanks to Matt's rage. The small thing grew larger and stronger. It had never felt like that, not even at his prime. It only needed for Matt to make one more step, one more word and…

 _I HATE YOU, SYLVA!_

Yes! At that thought, the thing inside Matt's soul regained its full strength. It took impulse and, with one jump; it poured out from matt soul into the physical realm, manifesting itself over Matt's body, taking the reins of his mind.

Before the shocked eyes of both Napoleon and Mr. Huggles, Matt was suddenly enveloped in a flash of green lightning and, after it dissipated, Matt waved his wings and flew towards the roof.

"What… what was that?" asked Napoleon, completely confused.

Mr. Huggles was almost frozen. He had been able to see Matt's face… except that now he knew that it wasn't Matt's face anymore. It was different, but familiar, terrifyingly familiar.

Because that wasn't Matt's face. That was the face of…

* * *

"Shagon!" shouted Will in disbelief.

Yes, there, in the now completely erased rooftop, in the air, waving his black wings; was the Angel of Malice and former field commander of the Knights of Destruction; Shagon, the Hate.

The Angel of Malice turned himself to the Guardians after have a good look at Sylva, who was lying in the ground, actually quite hurt after his fall; but that looked to the new player with quite interesting eyes.

He looked at the quintet with his emotionless, golden mask and glowing eyes, his medusa-like hair blowing with the wind. His flashy eyes stopped themselves at Will, after having a good look of the other four.

"Hello Will" said the corrupted Earth Regent. "Long time no see."

 _Which is the true nightmare, the horrific dream that you have in your sleep or the dissatisfied reality that awaits you when you awake?_ Justin Alcala

* * *

 **Author Notes: And… here… we… go! There it is; my fifth chapter. Yeah, long time without updating. Well, I have an excuse! You see, first of all, I needed to plan all the set to the Riddle Arc and the Meridian Interludes. Second, it was actually pretty hard writing this chapter, especially writing the torture scene and the battle against Sylva. Especially the former. I wanted to play the torture scene like something that sets Sylva's character well; and also use the mercenary to leave in the air one of the main themes of this story. People's NATURE. Sylva had said that he is not a psychopath or a monster, but that he is suited better for the world. This will be something that I want to bring out over the whole fic. Are people's bad by nature? Are our morals and ethics our greatest creation; or are just a castle were we bury our desires and raw emotions? Both in comics and cartoon; the Guardians had always put themselves in the role of "Protectors of the Pure and Righteous"; which, as I said before, I don't like. During this fic, I want to put them against people whose ideals or decisions are as understandable (or even more) as their own. I also want them to make the wrong decisions sometimes. The first clue to this is in this chapter. Note how Taranee is incapable of fighting back Sylva because she is afraid of killing him, but Irma and Will still want to, if not kill, harm him somehow. Hay Lin still doesn't have an opinion in this matter, but Cornelia is the voice of reason. Having said that, I think that I'm going to play Cornelia like she was in the comics; more mature and caring with her teammates.**

 **For the fight, of course Sylva was going to lose. Even if he is one of the best, he is still human, and, as he has said in the chapter, he was disobeying his orders, acting in a childlike behavior because he thought of it fun. But don't worry; the Guardians are going to have a very sound and hard defeat in this arc.**

 **And finally, I had to debate myself very hardly with the issue of bringing back Shagon to the picture or not. Hate is a very interesting emotion, so I played in my head with the idea of what could happen if Matt HATED someone so hard that it was enough to bring Shagon back. How do this? Well, Hebert Olsen comes in handy for this task; being the only family that Matt had has in years; killing him was the perfect trigger to awake Matt's raw emotions. Of course, I decided that it was a good idea in order to give Matt his own character arc and create conflict between him and Will. Matt is now consumed by his hate for Sylva, and that has been enough to bring Shagon back to life; and now stronger than ever, due to still being an Earth Regent, independently of his alignment.**

 **So, that's all. After this one will come the second chapter of the Riddle Arc, which will be named, quite fittingly; "A Gust of Hate". After that will come the first Meridian Interlude "Children of a dysfunctional World"**

 **Until then, have pleasant days and nights.**


	6. Chapter 6: Riddle Arc Part II

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH; it's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **Welcome, my dear readers, to the second chapter of the Riddle Arc of "A different story"; A Gust of Hate. I hope that every one of you enjoyed the previous chapter; because this one starts exactly where the previous one left. Also, this chapter will be introducing to the plot one of the OCs that I have designed for this fanfic, and also one of the characters from the WITCH universe that I always thought of having potential but (in my opinion) not being used correctly. I hope that you all like my use of them.**

 **PD: Thanks to Silberbullet for adding this story to her/his favorite list.**

 **Also; like always I desire you all a pleasant read; and I ask for you to leave a review. Pretty please? *Cute wink***

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter six

Riddle Arc. Part Two

A Gust of Hate

" _Kill, destroy, ravage, tear, murder…_ "

The voice echoed in the walls of the room. Matt Olsen was now in a darkened, small room. Without windows and only one, locked and chained door, the space in it only big enough for him to fit in. it had to be small, really small; like one of those cells destined to solitary confinement. Yes, a cell. That room had been a cell, hadn't it? For something, someone, that Matt locked up there. But… but he didn't remember. He had locked someone, but then he had let that someone out. He had opened that door; and that someone had got out and put him in the small cell. It wasn't a good cell.

" _Kill, destroy, ravage, tear, murder…_ "

The mantra didn't stop. It was as if the walls of the cell were emitting the mantra. Or maybe they were composed of the mantra. Anyway, the words repeated themselves without pause. Why were these words there; why they sounded? Someone had made Matt upset, someone had hurt him; Matt knew at least that. Who hurt him? What did that person do? Matt tried to remember, but doing it, the mantra only intensified, not letting him think.

" _Kill, destroy, ravage, tear, murder…_ "

Yes; the mantra was distracting, but… also comforting. Matt sat in the ground of the small cell, and folding his legs and embracing them with his arms, he assumed a fetal position. Matt's body shrank and become the one of a child. The child-Matt stayed there, in his fetal position, and closed his eyes. He let the mantra to become a furious and hateful lullaby; and started to sleep. Yes… hate, that was the word. He hated someone. Who did he hate? Why did he hate? Unimportant, overrated. He had not liked hate once, hadn't he? Why? Now hate seemed… good. It seemed like the right decision. It seemed… beautiful.

" _Kill, destroy, ravage, tear, murder… Hate_ "

* * *

Out of Matt's inner world, Shagon stretched his and Matt's body. It felt good to be in control once more; to be the one directing the movement of their arms, legs and torso. The Angel of Malice flapped his wings. They were his wings, weren't they? Nerissa had given them to him, not to Matt. Shagon chuckled, knowing that the boy had been put out of business. Now he would be the one to know what it's like being trapped inside that ridiculous room, unable to move, unable to think. Unable to see anything but the residual pieces of the thoughts of the boy that he shared a body with. In those dark times, Shagon thought that he was better when he was just an unanimated emotion. At least, some of the residuals that he caught were part of thoughts that revolved themselves around Will. And speaking of Will…

"How are you here?!" shouted to the Angel of Malice the Keeper of the Hearth. "Matt destroyed you!"

Shagon kept silence for a little moment, and then chuckled again. "Yes, good luck destroying one of the basic emotions of a human being. I cannot be destroyed; Will, my dear. I'm as part of Matt as are his selflessness and goodness. He just weakened me, crippled me. But now I'm back, I'm rested, and I'm prepared to give all of you" Shagon eyed the Guardians, not only his eyes, but his whole figure flashing in green lighting "the beatdown of your lives for HELPING THAT LITTLE WIMP INTO PUTTING ME OUT OF CHARGE OF THIS BODY!"

"You know, sometimes I forget how incredibly cheesy this guy was" said Irma sarcastically, unleashing a torrent of water towards Shagon. The Angel of Malice shot one of his greenish eye beams at it; evaporating the water before a single drop touched him. Irma stared dumbfounded at the winged figure; that had now his arms folded above his chest.

"Is that all you got? I'm disappointed" mocked Shagon; and fired another eye beam in the direction of the girls; who, not been able to block it, just evaded it.

"Try to not forget that he was pretty strong too" retorted Cornelia to the Water Guardian, receiving a raspberry as an answer.

"Try to leave that for later, you two!" shouted Will "focus in Shagon, we have to do something to free Matt!"

Taranee, knowing that Shagon was quite more resistant that any human being and thus no worried anymore for burning him to death; conjured an enormous ball of fire that was almost bigger than herself and threw it in the corrupted Earth Regent's direction. Instead of doing what the girls did and try to avoid the attack; or trying to block it with his beam eyes like he did with Irma's blast of water; Shagon raised his hands and, imbuing them with power he blocked the giant flame sphere with them. Shagon struggled a little, but using not only in the power that Matt's hate was providing, but also the power that was bestowed upon him as Regent of Earth; the Angel of Malice ended shattering the giant fire ball into tiny flames that faded away in the wind. "Interesting…" whispered the winged demon.

Shagon looked at his hands, and making fists of them, he channeled the whole capability of his power; mixing hate and the power of light that was inside him; and with a scream, he sent a wave of greenish energy across the sky.

"Oh crap" said Will as the wave of energy smashed with her and the other four girls; pushing them backwards in the sky, and severally hurting them all. "Augh… everyone is okay?" asked the leader of the team.

"I have been better…" said Taranee between her teeth. She then looked at Shagon that was still floating in the air.

"One thing is being strong; but I don't recall him being able to tank one of your best moves like that!" said to her Irma.

"Shagon gets stronger if you hate him, hasn't he Will? Maybe someone hates him?" asked Hay Lin to the redhead.

Will snapped to this information. Did someone hate the monster at that moment? She had very good reasons to do so, but… but that was also Matt, and she couldn't hate him…

"I doubt that's the case" explained Taranee. "I think that he is using his Regent powers. It shouldn't be surprising that Shagon can do whatever Matt can. I suppose that Lillian didn't specify that only one personality could access it:"

Cornelia realized what did that means. "So, we are actually fighting with one third of a Hearth… which means that is far individually stronger than any of us… and even if we defeat him, the only one who could depower him is my sister"

"More or less, that's the situation" confirmed Taranee.

"What do we do, Will?" asked Hay Lin to the Keeper of the Hearth.

The redhead didn't know. If they attacked Shagon together and continuously, she knew that they could win; Make a fake diversion using herself; bath him in Irma's water; then use Cornelia as the real diversion, then zap him; and then, combining Hay Lin's and Taranee's elements… No! What was she thinking, that was Matt. Inside it was Matt… right?

"Eh… girls? I think that he is going to do something" said Taranee to the group; making the five Guardians to pay attention to Shagon.

Ignorant to the Guardian's plans to defeat him, Shagon was admiring the enormous amount of energy that his body was possessing. It wasn't only the power that little runt that Cornelia had as a little sister had bestowed upon his and Matt's body, but the hate that Matt was feeling and his own hate were making him stronger minute by minute. Now, to prove the real limit to that strength…

Shagon raised his hands to the skies, and using his power, he began to distort the weather; but in a more massive manner that the Guardians had done to defeat Sylva. The wind started to blew stronger, the skies darkening in black clouds. Then, a powerful blast of green lighting shot from his hands to the clouds, charging them. "Let's see you all resisting this!" said the Angel of Malice, making the lighting that he had charged in the cloud came down as an enormous energy strike.

"Irma, cover us!" shouted Will to her companion, hoping that a shield of water could block the green lighting. Irma raised a gigantic bubble; but albeit softened the strike, it didn't bloke it completely. The lightning stroke the Guardians, this time sending the majority of them to the ground. Only Will and Cornelia remained in the air, although they were pretty close to the ground of the floor.

"Agh… is like he is getting stronger of something…" started Cornelia, just to be punched by Shagon, who had come to their side at an astonishing speed; and send to the floor to.

Will tried to go to her rescue. But Shagon moved at what only could be called super-speed, and graved her by the throat, raising her in the air with his strength; making her gasp. He Angel of Malice looked delighted. "Just to inform you, I could stop all of this if you give me a kiss, Will"

Will scolded at the corrupted Earth Regent. "I will rather die than kissing you" said the redhead to the winged demon. It only made him chuckle again.

"You know that you have kissed me a lot of times, right?"

"You are not Matt!"

Shagon chuckled again. If he made again that horrible sound again, Will was certain that she'll kick him in the nuts. "I'm Matt, Will. Or at least a part of him" said Shagon to the redhead. "The part of him that hates people that hurts others and that wants them dead. The part of him that blames himself for not being able to protect the only family he had left. The part of him that fantasies about you being warped up naked in his room; not being able to move meanwhile he uses you"

That last line left Will completely shocked. "What?" said weakly the Keeper of the Hearth.

"What? You think that walking in front of an hormonal teenager in nothing more than a swimsuit, or in a sexier Guardian form, wasn't going to ignite little Matt's passions? Oh, they did ignite. But you see, the boy is such a pussy that he'll never admit it. He'll never go and make the necessary choices. That's why I'm here. I'm here because I'm stronger than him, because I can avenge who he cannot; I'm here because I'm better than him. And better for you too"

Shagon brought Will's face closer to his; in an attempt to steal a kiss from her. Will resisted, but she was too much shocked. Matt couldn't have that kind of thoughts, could he?

A stream of wind stroke then Shagon, forcing him to free Will and rise again to the skies. Again in her feet, the other four girls stood firmly in their combat positions, each one of them holding their elements in their palms.

"Don't you dare to touch her, you creep!" shouted Cornelia to the Angel of Malice.

"Yeah, keep your bad touch away from Will!" accompanied Hay Lin to the blonde's retort.

"You think that you can just show up and defeat our whole team?! We own you, motherfucker!" shouted Irma.

"Just who do you think we are?!" was then Taranee's sentence.

They were right. That wasn't the time to doubt oneself and being wrapped in her weaknesses. "We" started Will, charging a bolt like her companions "ARE WICTH!"

Then each one of the quintet of girls shot a powerful blast at Shagon. The Angel of Malice raised another powerful wave of energy and unleashing it, he let it collide with the girls attack. The five elements collided with the stream of greenish lightning and; for about several minutes, the two attacks equaled each other. Then the mix of the five elements started to beat the green light. Little by little, Shagon's attack started to lose ground; and the Guardian's attack to take it.

"No, I won't be caged again, I won't!" shouted the corrupted Earth Regent. Shagon added to his wave his eye beams; making his attack to match the one of the Guardians again.

The girls didn't fall back either. They put more energy in their attack. Shit, why was Shagon so powerful? Or rather, why each one of them felt so weak in comparison with other times?

The two attacks barreled each other until; unable to resist the colliding energies, the point where the two beams were clashing started to glow in a white light; and exploded, sending both parties across the sky, also completely destroying the building over where they were fighting.

While Shagon ended crashing with one of the other buildings that composed the district; breaking one of the walls and ending inside it; the Guardians found themselves falling to the ground… until a golden sphere caught them.

Cornelia looked weakly bellow and smiled. "Thank you, cat" said her.

Under the Guardians, creating the golden sphere with his magic was Napoleon, his right hand glowing in a golden light, appointing to the quintet of magical girls.

"Are you all right?" asked the humanoid feline; making the sphere descend to the ground and realizing the Guardians.

Irma cracked her neck. "That was one hell of a boom"

Hay Lin sat herself in the ground, tired to even fly anymore. "Ouch… I want my bed…"

"What the hell was that? How did Shagon…?" started to ask Cornelia; wanting an answer to the reappearance of the fallen Knight of Destruction; but Taranee interrupted her.

Will had separated from the group and, passing Napoleon, she made her way until reaching Mr. Huggles, who was behind the humanoid feline, holding something in his arms. Will had been the only one noticing it; it looked rather small in comparison with the massive humanoid animal. It was a body.

"Is… is he…?" asked the redhead.

"Dead; I'm sorry" answered sadly Napoleon.

Upon noticed of whom the Regent was speaking about; the other four Guardians looked at the body in Mr. Huggles' arms. And realized whose body was.

"Is that… Mr. Olsen?" asked a shocked Irma. Hay Lin put her hands over her mouth, covering a gasp of horror. Both Taranee and Cornelia felt dead silent. Will reached the corpse; while Mr. Huggles got to his knees and dropped the departed old man in the ground solemnly and carefully.

Will kneeled too. Before she and the others went to encounter Sylva, she hadn't had a good look upon the body of the man; due to Matt holding him. Now that she was the one looking him in a first plane, she noticed how incredibly crippled he was now. One thing was the incredibly bad situation his hands were, the fingers completely twisted and soaked in blood. But the face of the poor old man… it was completely wasted, parts of his skull being seen. And still; the corpse released a sensation of peace and tranquility that contrasted with the state of his body. Even after the nightmare he had been in; Hebert Olsen had died happy.

"See, I told you, Will, my dear" said a voice from the sky.

Both Guardians and Regents looked up to see Shagon again. His mask had several cracks in it; and his wings and body were a little burned. Still, the wounds were closing already, his power still increasing, his inner hate still burning.

"That Matt is too weak to avenge his grandfather. That Matt was too weak to protect him. This is truth, he doesn't think otherwise" Shagon chuckled. "The reason I'm this strong now is because I don't need others' hate to become stronger. The little boy hates himself enough to have me running for decades. Now, just imagine how he would felt if I killed his friends; let's not speak about of hurting his beloved Wilhelmina…"

Four of the Guardians looked up defiantly, but Will still maintained her sight focused in the corpse of Mr. Olsen. Napoleon and Mr. Huggles made their ways and put themselves in front of the Guardians. Mr. Huggles growled angrily at the Angel of Malice.

Seeing ten this, Shagon sighed. "But I'm not fool enough to try and fight you five again with those two added to the mix" said the corrupted Earth Regent signaling to the two humanoid animals. "So, I think that now some 'goodbyes' must be imposed."

"Do you really think that we will let you go?" asked Napoleon, stretching his claws and tensing his muscles. If he jumped with all his might, could he be able to get to his corrupted companion? It was worth a try.

"Oh, well you could try fighting me again, or… you could go for the man you came here for" said the Angel of Malice in his usual petulant tone.

Taranee gasped in surprise. "Sylva…" the mercenary was nowhere to see.

"I suppose that he escaped during our little roughhouse" continued Shagon.

"And whose fault is that, eh? You say that Matt cannot avenge his people, but you have let that sick bastard go away!" shouted Irma to the winged demon.

"True… I will give you that Irma; you turn out to be more intelligent than I thought. I'll have to fix it" and with that phrase, Shagon raised his arms in fists, and in a flash as green as his lightning based powers, he disappeared, leaving a very confused Guardians.

"Did he just teleport himself?" asked a socked Cornelia. Since when did Shagon knew how to do that?

"Did he just call me stupid?" said then an offended Irma, just to get a glare for every other member of their team sans Will. "Sorry" apologized the Water Guardian.

Speaking of Will, she was still clutching the corpse of Mr. Olsen. Cornelia walked towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Will, we'll have to decide… are we going after Shagon, or after Sylva? Or…?" Cornelia noted how something was moving under her hand. Will was shaking, trembling. Then the Earth Guardian noted what was happening. Her leader was crying. In silence, but crying.

"Will, if you…" started Cornelia, just for Will to stop sobbing and stand up.

Wiping her tears away with one hand, the leader of WITCH said "We will track Sylva. It'll be easier than to locate Shagon, who can (somehow) teleport. If we find Sylva, we will find Shagon; I suppose that he's his objective…"

"I wouldn't mind if we let Mr. Hate with that glasses-wearing asshole a few minutes…" commented Irma to her leader's plan, but her commentary was unnoticed.

"We will split like we did in the port and start looking for either of them, but preferably Sylva."

"I don't think that he will be able to escape very far given his injuries" added Taranee to the conversation.

"That's all; let's do it. Also, it will be good to put Mr. Olsen…" said Will. Mr. Huggles made a gesture to the Keeper, indicating that he would stay and take care of the body. Matt was the creature's closest friend, after all. Also, it was possible that one part of him didn't want to harm Matt; independently of who was in charge of his body.

"Thank you" said Will to the humanoid dormouse. The group separated again, only that this time Will was accompanying Taranee in place of Mr. Huggles. There would be time later to cry for their losses. Now it was time to focus.

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Concentrate. Count to three.

Save Matt.

* * *

Unbeknown to the whole group; two figures had been watching the development of the Guardian's fights; both against human and demon. It would be important mentioning how, even if both of them took interest in the situation, neither of them knew the existence of the other, and how and why they were looking at the clashes were very different.

The first figure was of a man in his late seventies; but that didn't show it. Even at his age, he could easily pass for a man twenty years younger, very few wrinkles in his face. His skin white, his eyes of a fiery almond color and not a single hair on his head (but some ones could say that compensated with his eyebrows); dressed in a simple pair of khaki corduroy trousers and a reddish brown sweater; this man's name was Theodore Riddle, currently dedicated to both psychology and the extermination of everything that could be considered magical.

Sitting at a small desk in his office, only a little computer and a chessboard over it; he meditated over the images that a little flying drone that he left in Heatherfield had sent to him. He really never had Raphael's mental sanity in a very high esteem, but his late actions were bordering in megalomania. Albeit he was able to discern a very deep and strong case of psychopathy in the mercenary when he enlisted him as his lackey; he judged it as a necessary problem in order to attain his goals. And it had been gone smoothly; Sylva taking care of everything that Riddle ordered him to do. Then came the incident on the mall; and Riddle just rationalized it. Sure, the loss of innocent human lives was something that couldn't be more away from his goal, but the data recorded about the so-called _Guardians,_ those _things_ , was worth of the sacrifice of those men and women. If he really triumphed, they would be remembered as heroes.

But this time Sylva had cross the line. Not only he had disobeyed his direct orders; but he had attacked them in solitary; and also apparently killed another innocent human being. And, of top of it, not only he had acted like a fool, but also lost (and quite pathetically) and thanks to him, there was another monstrosity running around in the form of the teen Matt Olsen, although Riddle doubted that the current winged human was still the teenager.

Sighing, Riddle took a cell phone from his pocket and called someone. The ringtone sounded a couple of times before another man answered- "Victor?" said Riddle. "Yes, it's me. Listen, I won't need for you and Sephiria to take at the airport… No, listen, I will be in the town before you two, I have something to take care about… Yes, it's Sylva… Yes, I know what your wife will say. Well, I will see you at the mansion when you two arrive. Okay, have a nice day you too."

Riddle hanged up the call and put the cell phone back to its place. He then took one of the black knights of his chess set and, holding it in his hand, he made it levitate with some sort of telekinetic force, and then proceeded to crush it. "I hate doing this" said then Riddle, "but what have to be done, has to be done". And then the office flashed in green thanks to the particular color of the teleportation spells.

The second figure watching the clash was already in Heatherfield. Actually, he had been watching the battle not far away from it happened. His one was also an elderly man, almost in his middle eighties, but in contrast to Riddle, he couldn't hide his age, albeit his body had a very good built for someone of his years. The man sported a very thick grayish beard, and his head was decorated by a white mane; albeit in one moment of his life it had been as golden as the wheat spikes of the fields of his house. His name was Ricardo Herbosa; and now was wrapped in a long black cloak, his left hand in his pocket and his right producing a series of black runes in the air. It was the form of a spell designated to make contact. When it was ended, Ricardo made his intentions clear. "I'm going to step in"

"Are you crazy, boy?" sounded from the construct of runes the voice of an angered woman "they could be watching!"

"If they are watching, they had been doing it from her entire live. I will not tolerate another causality to play to our disadvantage, mujer."

In a molested tone, the voice of the woman answered her interlocutor. "Do what it takes. But procure not to be seen by the Guardians, or worse, by Kandrakar"

"Did I ever fail in that matter?" asked Ricardo with a cocky grin, just for the construct of runes to fade away with the aid of an angry blow of the wind, which also made Ricardo flinch. Cold weather wasn't the best for his constitution. He had always been more accustomed to the heat of his home.

Stretching his old body, Ricardo sighed and produced another set of black runes, that then sparkled and sent a purple colored electrical wave over the air; that a first was like a purple gas, but then faded away, melting with the sky. Then a little greenish line appeared before Ricardo's eyes, and started to row in a certain direction. Ricardo murmured a series of words, and putting his palms together, Ricardo's feet rise in the air. The man in the black coat started to levitate and follow the green line. Cracking his neck while floating through the skies of Heatherfield, the elder smiled. It had been various years since his last good fight.

* * *

Running through the streets of the outskirts of Heatherfield, Raphael Sylva held his right set of ribs with his left hand, while his right one was tightly gripping around the mercenary's sniper rifle; the dammed childlike smile still in his face. It was hard moving through the snow of the street with the body injured like that, and without glasses his vision was nothing to be proud of, even if he could still aim from a distance. The mercenary couldn't restrain his joy inside of him. The adrenaline running so fast within his bloodstream that he felt like he could fight for months.

Bad news? He had lost the battle, and if that thing that looked a lot like Matt Olsen hadn't intervened, he could be captured. Good news? First of all, that was the most stimulating battle of his live! Miss Hale had hit him with a rock; three of the girls had created a storm! If it wasn't for Miss Cook's fears and doubts they could have dominated him! Shame that she didn't fire, it could have been better… But, second good new, he was still alive! So, he only had to heal his injuries, reunite with the boss and the others, and he would be able to fight a rematch with them all. The only thing that he needed was to find a telephone and call and ambulance, then…

"Raphael" a voice interrupted both Sylva's thoughts and run. Sylva turned around. He knew that voice.

"Boss?" asked the mercenary; looking now at Theodore Riddle, that stood in the middle of the snowed street like he had just appeared out of nowhere, which actually he did. "What are you doing here? How are you here?" asked again the blond man; not hiding his surprise.

"I teleported from my other location" answered the bald man.

"Well, if you could be so gentle and lend a hand, I would be grateful, sir" said Sylva trying to get close to his employer. "Thanks for coming, though. It's not easy to find such a caring boss…"

"I think you are mistaken, Raphael" said Riddle, arms folded at his back, looking oddly at his employee. "I'm not here to save you; I didn't teleport here to rescue you. Your actions forced me to use a spell, Raphael. Also, you have disobeyed me, acted in your own accord; and in a quite disorganized manner. But above all else you have. Told those _things_. About. Me." Riddle said, remarking each word. Even if his expression was serene, his voice denoted how pissed he was.

Sylva frowned at this. He hadn't told the girls about him… No, wait… He did! Right before starting to fight the group. "Eh… sorry?" said Sylva with a stupid grin.

"You better be, Raphael. You even told them my name, even if hidden in a lame pun. Now, they are following you, and if they find you, they will get a lot of clues about me and my intentions."

Sylva knew where this was going. Doing a fast movement with his hand, he raised his sniper rifle and aimed at Riddle. But when he was going to pull the trigger, an invisible force held him, completely restraining his movements. Riddle had now one of his hands in the air, holding it in Sylva's direction. Was him producing that force?

"You understand, don't you Raphael?" Riddle got closer, and the grip on Sylva's body intensified, making him kneel. Riddle put his other hand over Sylva's forehead and face. "I cannot let them to follow those clues to me" said the bald man.

What followed weren't screams or any other sound. Just silence. Neither of the two men said anything, Riddle concentrated, Sylva scared for real in the first time of his life. Sylva's eyes started to move quickly from one side to another, his pupils getting smaller and smaller. Riddle made himself into the mercenary's mind, and like a worm, started to walk the insides of the blond man's psyche.

Little by little, the worm started to prey onto memories and thoughts inside Sylva's mind. Shattering them, ravaging them. Sylva's eyeballs stop moving so recklessly, and started to go slower and slower, until they became dull and lifeless. The only word that could leave Sylva's mouth by that moment was just one. "Why?"

"Why?" asked back Riddle. "Because Raphael, you aren't of more use to me. You are a loose end, and those must be eliminated. If you are asking why I am carrying this entire plan" continued Riddle, finishing also the mutilation of his ex-employee's mind "is because I hate them, Raphael. I hate those five things. I hate what they are; I hate that they think that they aren't what they are… and I hate what they represent." Riddle made a pause and, retiring his hand from his interlocutor's head, he let Sylva to fall completely into the snowed ground, spittle coming down from his mouth, his body contorted into a fetal position. "That's why, Raphael. You were a good employee, though. When everything ends, I will have you back, I promise. For the moment…" Riddle raised his head and stared onto the horizon. Those five and their companions would likely be there in a few minutes. Preparing his hands with another teleportation spell, Riddle said his farewell to the man "have pleasant dreams, Raphael. We will meet again…" the green light flashed, and Riddle was gone leaving only his words behind.

" _In a world without magic_ "

* * *

Just like one left the outskirts via teleportation, another one arrived, albeit it was not in the destination he wanted to be. Shagon waved his wings violently. Five teleportations, and yet no sight of the man he was looking for! This was incredibly frustrating!

"Sylva! Where are you?!" said the Angel of Malice in a playful tone. "I promise to not harm you!" Shagon stared into the nothingness. He grew even more infuriated. "Dam it! Where are you hiding?!" shouted the corrupted Earth Regent.

"Maybe the reason he cannot be found is because you are shouting like a madman, chico" said then the voice of an elderly man. Shagon looked up and, much to his surprise, saw an old man wrapped in a black cloak… floating in the air, arms folded over his chest. "You should try, how do you say, been stealthy" said the man.

Shagon stared to the floating old man. He hadn't time for this, so he clasped his hands and tried to teleport. But he couldn't. The old man smiled to him. "I put a spell over this area that blocks teleportations that go outside, but not inside. It's the best form of getting hold of a tricky kiddo like you, chico."

Shagon scolded to the old man. "Who are you?" asked the Angel of Malice. He was in no time for this. He had to find Sylva and kill him. He couldn't let Matt to tranquilize and stop hating. If Shagon stained his hands in blood, Matt would never resurface again.

"The name is Ricardo. Ricardo Herbosa." The old man bowed. "You really made a mess to your friends, didn't you kiddo? You know…" Ricardo raised his head from the bow and clacked his neck again, making sure that his vertebra didn't play a trick on him, but also to make his intentions clear "I never liked abusive children." Ricardo clenched his fist, and a dark aura appeared around them, a purple-like energy making his eyes glow. The elder eyed the demon, a serious look taking over his face.

Shagon, not seeing another gateway that didn't involve fighting, waved his wings and rose to the same altitude the old man was. The demon eyed the man and, much like his opponent, made his hands and eyes glow in energy; albeit Shagon's were flashing in green and in a much more violent way.

"I don't like repeating myself, old man" said the Angel of Malice, taking in a fighting position. "And hate is strong. So tell me… who are you and what are you doing here?"

Ricardo made one of his eyebrows raise. Was this boy trying to sound intimidating? The elder made sure that a very sound laughter didn't escape from his mouth. Instead, he only smirked. "Let's make a deal here. I'll tell you if you are able to lay a hit on me; _niño_ " the last word was depreciative, and even if Shagon couldn't understand it, he knew that it was meant to insult him.

Shagon snarled. "Fine by me; your life is as good as any other." And with a hateful roar, the corrupted Regent of Earth charged to his adversary, who just waited patiently, a life of struggles paying off in that matter.

* * *

Away from the starting battle, Taranee Cook and Will Vandom were able to found something, or more precisely, someone. Laying in the snow, the pair had been able to locate Raphael Sylva, albeit he was in a much worse state that they had predicted.

The first thing that Will did was to make Taranee to advise the others via telepathy. In a few minutes, the five Guardians and the Regent Napoleon were there, each one of them staring to the unconscious body of Raphael Sylva.

"Is he dead?" asked Hay Lin.

Taranee negated with her head. "No, he's unconscious, probably from his wounds and the effort. Still, I cannot get inside his mind for some reason. It's usually easier with unconscious people" said the Fire Guardian.

"Well, at least we get to him before Shagon did" said Cornelia. "That has to count, doesn't it?"

Irma folded her arms and made a displeased face. "Count for you…"

"Enough" said Will. "I think it's obvious that we had won to this man. Napoleon, could you please make sure that he doesn't escape before we found Matt?"

The humanoid cat nodded. "I will bring him where Huggles is. I will not let him escape, I promise. And if Shagon shows up, we two should be enough to subdue him"

"Thanks" said Will, and the Earth Regent jumped straight into the air, covering an enormous distance in a single bound.

"Whoa, he really jumps well" said Hay Lin to nowhere in particular.

Ignoring the asian girl's commentary, Will directed herself to her team. "Now, I think that, before going after Matt (which we be doing the five together, by the way) I think that we should talk about…"

"About why our powers suck now?" said Irma. "Sorry, but even I can see that we aren't as strong as we should be."

"Irma is right. And it's not only with Shagon today. It also was with that thing at the mall. We should have been able to vaporize it from the beginning, but we couldn't. And we five together should have been stronger than Shagon by a mille, but we weren't" explained Taranee.

"So, either we are becoming weaker or something is weakening us" said then Cornelia.

"It could be the second option. Just like the static sound with my Quintessence, it could be something similar with all of us" contributed Will. "But we cannot fight properly like this. In the moment we end this thing, we are going to contact Kandrakar immediately and let them take care of Sylva and also let us know if something is wrong with our powers."

Taranee was surprised by that remark. "Wait, are we going to let Kandrakar take Sylva? Wouldn't he have to pay for his crimes here?"

"And what do we tell them? Hey, hello there, we are a bunch of magical girl warriors and we have defeated this crazy psycho because he sent a giant robot to attack us at the mall. Yeah, they'll surely buy that" said Irma sarcastically, getting a little scold from Taranee. But the Fire Guardian knew that her friend was right.

"It will be good to let Kandrakar take care of him" said then Cornelia. "I suppose that they are more suited for imprisoning this type of people than anybody else."

Taranee relaxed herself. Cornelia and Irma were right, this was the better decision.

"Okay, now we should be focusing in finding Matt" said Will. "Not splitting up, not acting in solitary. We work together, and this time we knock him down."

Every member of the team nodded, everyone's mind now focusing in the current task. The quintet took air, and flying, started to search for the Angel of Malice. The important question now was; where was he?

* * *

The answer to that question was simple. Matt, or rather Shagon, was in the middle of a battle in midair against an eighty-something man… and he was losing. Quite ridiculously, actually.

"WHY CAN'T I HIT YOU?!" shouted frustrated the Angel of Malice. It didn't matter what he threw at the man. A punch or a kick was blocked by a dark purple barrier that raised itself automatically upon any attack. If he threw one of his eye beams, the man just raised his palms and, sprouting a bunch of black runes, he curved the beam around him and made it to go back and hit Shagon. He then tried to fly into some security distance. But that proved as a bad idea too.

Raising his right hand and extending only his index and middle finger, Ricardo made a series of quick movements with his arm, and a bunch of dark runes appeared again, this time forming a circle around Shagon. "Because you are only an amateur. You have power, but you lack the use of the specific formulas necessary to defeat someone as me, like for example…" said Ricardo, and his eyes flashed with purple energy. " _Babel._ " As he spoke that word, the runes around Shagon sparkled violently, and a pillar of black light enveloped the Angel of Malice, harming him considerably and knocking him on the snowed pavement.

Shagon get to his feet again, but he noted that his right wing was severally wounded. He couldn't fly anymore. As knowing this fact, Ricardo descended nicely to the ground, his feet touching it graciously. The old man spoke. "And also, yes niño, hate is strong. But it's also reckless, impulsive, stubborn and very uncontrollable. You have more power than I have ever dreamed, but… You are like an explosion, attacking in every direction, but without knowing where your enemy is, or if your attack would impact. I'm more like a bullet, precise and swift." Ricardo folded his arms again.

"You pathetic…" said Shagon.

"I'm the pathetic one, niño? You are the one almost fainting in the snow, while I'm here, fresh and unharmed. You are the one losing by a mille. It shouldn't be necessary to remember you that if you are not able to lay a low on me, you would lose the bet. Isn't that right, niño?"

Shagon hissed. He was losing. He! It was preposterous. He was fighting the five Guardians of Kandrakar not even moments ago, and holding his own, no less! But now here he was, losing to a decrepit and aged geezer… Decrepit and old… Shagon realized something, a plan popping on his malicious mind.

"You are a fraud, old man" said Shagon, hoping that the taunt could serve as a bait for the elderly man. It worked.

Ricardo raised an eyebrow. "Excuse you? In what I'm a fraud?"

"You are saying that I cannot hit you; that you are precise and swift, but I bet that, if we just fight with our fist, I would defeat you"

Ricardo smiled and, taking his coat of, he made clear that he had accepted Shagon's challenge. The Angel of Malice chuckled delighted. "You craved your own gave, old man" thought the demon, and using his enhanced speed, he dashed towards the old man, this time not seeing a barrier appearing. He threw his right fist in Ricardo's direction, aiming to hit him, and pierce his body.

It didn't work.

Shagon hit something, but it was hard and stif; it almost felt like punching granite. Shagon hissed in paid and held his hand, which had now various bones cracked and was starting to regenerate. Looking at Ricardo, Shagon saw how runes very similar that the ones that he used to attack him coated now the old man's body. Little by little, the runes starting to expand, until the hole skin of Ricardo was pitch black, only his eyes, and his white beard and mane were still the same color. Without the coat, he sport only a blue pullover and a pair of black trousers. It made him look… inhuman.

"What the…?" said a puzzled Shagon, left without words for the first time in his short life.

"This is called _Hierro_ ; is a spell that makes me more resilient in hand to hand combat… What?" Ricardo looked at the speechless Shagon. "You really think that I would go into a fist fight against a youngster without an ace up my sleeve?"

"But now we just agreed…"

"I lied, niño" answered Ricardo with a cocky smile.

"I WILL MURDER YOU, YOU DECREPIT MEXICAN…" started Shagon, just to get a punch right into his stomach that sent him flying across the street.

"First of all, niño" started Ricardo, cracking his knuckles. "It wouldn't be bad to learn to show some respect and manners for your elders. Second…" Ricardo made an angry scowl, and getting closer to Shagon, he held him up by the throat and punched him again in the stomach, sending the Angel of Malice again to his knees. Then, Ricardo held his hands together in a grip, raising his arms over the corrupted Earth Regent; and then made them descend over him with all his might, arms tensed with all the strength his enchanted old body was capable of. "YO SOY DE ESPAÑA!"

The hit left a crater under Shagon's body; and an unconscious Angel of Malice inside it. The whole pavement was completely cracked. The skin of Ricardo returned to normal little by little. First the runes, and then nothing but his old skin. The old man felt to his knees and coughed harshly. Dam, he had used _Hierro_ for too long. His body wasn't as strong and resistant as it was in his youth. He couldn't risk to use it for too long, it was bad for his hearth… that woman had repeated it to him to satiety.

"Chist… I got lucky that this boy was just tired from his previous battle… man, age surely get's to my head sometimes…" thought the elder with a displeased look. Everything was easier with twenty or thirty fewer years in his back… but it was not time for complacency and self-pity. He had something else to do with that boy, fortunately the next step only required force of mind and will instead of force of body, and he had enough of the first two.

Putting his wrinkled hands around the boy's head, he started to chant. It wasn't long before a series of more elaborated runes coated Shagon's body and let Ricardo to enter the boy's inner world.

* * *

" _Kill, destroy, ravage, tear, murder… Hate_ "

The mantra still echoed from the walls of the small cell. Little child-Matt was still in his fetal position, letting the embrace of hate to take care of him, to sang to him as a lullaby. It felt good to let it sang and sleep inside its embrace. Hate wasn't that bad… It was better than the other option.

"Is that so?" said then a calm and kind voice. Then someone knocked at the door of the cell, and the chains that held it fell to the ground. Child-Matt shivered in fear. Who was trying to put an end to his lullaby; to his slumber? No, he liked it here…

Another knock in the door, and this time it opened slowly, letting the light of the exterior to get inside the room. Child-Matt rubbed his eyes at the blinding that came from it. When child-Matt looked again, he saw someone at the door, projecting a shadow over him. It was the figure of old Ricardo Herbosa, in his blue pullover, arms folded, as per usual. He then smiled to the little boy, and lend him a hand. "Would you be kind enough to join me?" asked the elder man. The mantra and the lullaby interrupted, child-Matt didn't know how to proceed, and took the ld man's hand, exiting the cell.

Walking through what appeared to be a strange city, with innumerable buildings and strange and numerous streets that went in every direction; child-Matt went alongside Ricardo, hands held together. Matt felt fairly depressed. Why was this man keeping him out of his lullaby? Then the pair stopped and, using his free hand, Ricardo signaled something, or rather, someone.

"Look, little man, someone is here to see you" said Ricardo.

Child-Matt raised his head; and a happy simile adorned his face. He dashed forwards the figure, arms wide open. "Grandpa!" shouted happily child-Matt.

There was him, Herbert Olsen, or more likely; the part of Herbert Olsen that Matt had treasured over the years and that now had a home in the boy's memory. The old man that had cared and encouraged him, who had supported him, loved him.

They hugged each other, and Herbert took little Matt in his arms and made him fly like a plane. After a few minutes, although, the old man put the little man in the ground and, kissing him in the cheek and ruffling his hair, he waved and marched away, and at one moment, Herbert Olsen transformed into a white cloud and parted to the skies, leaving a saddened Matt in the ground. "No! Grandpa, come back!"

Little Matt got to his knees, hugged himself and started crying. Then, a dark greenish mist agglomerated around him. The mist took the form of a winged feral creature, his face a twist of resentment and anger.

"See?" hissed the mist creature. "The world is cruel to you; it takes everything that you love and care about. Weren't you better in that room? If the world is cruel… then you just have to hate it. Hate everyone… because no one will care or love you…"

The creature lend a hand to little Matt. And the boy reached for it… but a wrinkled hand stopped him. "Are you really sure of that?" said Ricardo, impending the two hands to reach. "Have another look at the skies."

The mist creature twirled and twisted, hissing. "You are in my way, old man. Hate is inevitable, unstoppable. You will not trap me again."

Ricardo chuckled. "I have no intention of trapping you, cosa. But I recommend you to take a look at the skies too."

The mist creature followed the advice. And looking up, both it and little Matt saw an incredible spectacle in the skies. The ceiling of Matt's inner world was decorated by a moving white mist that formed a set of figures. Of course, Herbert was there. But he wasn't alone. His late son, a man that looked a lot like an older Matt (albeit his hair was way clearer than the one of the teenager) and that had answered to the name Paul, appeared with him. Alongside him was a woman with the same black bluish hair as Matt, and whose face was quite similar to the one of the boy.

Matt recognized them. Those were his parents, both dead in a car crash. "Oh, you mother and father" said the mist creature. "Those were taking from you too, weren't they?"

Ricardo put his fingers over his lips, indicating the being to shut up. "Keep silence, cosa. You are missing the big picture." The mist creature hissed at the old man, but kept watching the pictures in the skies. They weren't showing something depressing or threatening.

The images were of a pair of parents playing with their child in a park. Of an elderly man reading him a book for sleep, and also putting a reassuring hand in his shoulder at his parents' funeral. The images then jumped to the same man watching him grow, speaking with him, discussing with him…

Innumerable images then succeed the others. Not only of Matt's grandfather and parents, but also of the friends standing beside him, the foes he defeated, and finally, the white mist swirled and started to form a sole, yet enormous image.

"See, little one? Yes, everyone lost someone that they care about from time to time. Believe me…" a flash passed over Ricardo's mind, an image of a pair of lifeless bodies that belonged to children and an impaled woman pinned to a wall appeared in it. "I know that. And I know what is to hate the people that had hurt you and wanting them dead. I know what is to be consumed by hate. But you shouldn't let it ruin your life. Look" said the elder signaling to the skies, the image on it finally taking shape. "The love that your family and friends had for you is not gone, and as long as it remains in you, they won't leave your hearth. And that same love transcends and evolves, resulting in something new."

The image took shape definitely and become the one of Wilhelmina Vandom, smiling at Matt the same way that she had smiled at him the day they met. Will, who had trusted him with her secret, who had saved him from his hate once… there she was, the sun and skies of his own little world.

"That's ridiculous" said again the mist creature. "They will steal her from us the same way that they had stolen everything else! If you won't let me make the necessary choices to guarantee her safety, if you don't merge with me… then it would be too late! We won't be able to protect her!"

But Matt wasn't listening to the mist creature. He was still looking at Will, his body starting to grow. And in a few seconds child-Matt was gone, leaving only Matt Olsen, in his teenager form. He then directed himself to the creature, eyes glowing in determination. "This man is right!" shouted Matt, signaling to Ricardo. "I won't let down everyone that cares about me, and I won't let the memories of the ones that loved me to fade away, just because I'm hurt! Much less giving up to you!" said the teenager, now eyeing the mist feral creature. It snarled angrily, and threw a punch in Matt's direction, just for the teen to simply stop it with his opened palm and grab the creature's arm. Twisting the thing's tip, the creature hissed in pain and kneeled. "You…" started to say the creature. "You are…!" it wasn't the creature who finished the sentence, though.

"Nothing without me!" and at that shout, Matt punched the mist with his free hand, which shattered into a million pieces that dispersed themselves over the entire city that represented Matt's inner world.

"Aren't you going to imprison him again?" asked Ricardo. "He could return."

Matt negated with his head. "No. I will not run from my feels, even from my hate. It's as part of me as Will and the others are. But, thank you, whoever you are. But if you are an enemy, next time it won't be as easy as with Shagon."

Ricardo smiled. "It's nothing, chaval; and don't worry, it would be boring if it's as easy as this time again. Buenos dias" and with that, the reality of Matt's inner world faded away.

* * *

Back in the real world, Ricardo broke the connection with Matt at the same time that the mask of Shagon broke and the boy's body returned to his human form. Ricardo got to his feet and cracked his neck again; then started to levitate and leave the scene. The Guardians would get to the boy and take care of him. Darn it, it had been a really tiring day… and it wasn't the time to eat yet!

"I told you not to involve yourself, child" said the voice of his feminine interlocutor. "Now look at you, you know that you cannot use your _Hierro_ as easy as you used to. Return to the Fast World, I will take care of you"

"I can't"

""What?!" shouted the voice.

"I can't. I have another parade to attend to" said Ricardo somberly.

"No! You cannot confront him!" said the woman, knowing where her companion was going. "You are weak and tired, and he isn't a normal Hierophant either."

"I know. But it's his daughter. He deserves to know" Ricardo started t flow faster, his levitation getting better as his body recovered from the fight. "Even if I hate him from the bottom of my heart."

It wasn't long enough until the five Guardians found and reached the unconscious Matt Olsen. Will was the first one to rush to his side, worried as she was.

Putting the boy's back over her lap, and holding his head up, Will stared onto his face. "Matt, can you hear me?"

At first there wasn't an answer. Then, a whisper came weakly from Matt's mouth. "Will…?"

"Yes, it's me, don't worry, we got you."

"My grandfather… is he really…?" asked Matt.

Will stared at his boyfriend's face for a moment. His eyes were only semi-opened, denoting tiring. Will decided that lying had no real goal. "Yes, he is" answered Will plainly, then in a much more emotional tone, she added "I'm sorry"

Matt returned to the arms of Morpheus. Will stayed with him a little longer. Meanwhile, Cornelia looked at her surroundings. "This place looks…"

"I have noticed too" said Taranee. "It seems like it had been a battle here."

This let the Guardians a little confused. Even when they were carrying the unconscious body of Matt to where Napoleon and Mr. Huggles were waiting; even when they made sure that Matt was safe and Will started to call to Kandrakar using the Hearth; everyone had their own questions.

How did Matt return to his human form? How ended that street looking like a war zone? Was there a battle? If that was he case, who did fight Shagon and defeat him? Was Sylva's state not the result of his injuries, but the result of another fight? Was the attacker the same, or they were different ones? Too many questions and the girls weren't fresh enough to answer them. From the time being, every one of them wanted, more or less, to leave Matt under Kandrakar's care and go home, where a warm meal and a peaceful clime awaited them.

It had been such a tiring morning…

* * *

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of the Infinity. A few hours later that same day._**

Oracle Himerish stood in the center of a chamber filled with light, a little pond of water in the center of it; both Endarno and Tibor by his side. In the pond, the body of Raphael Sylva was floating in trance. In the water of the pond, images of his memories flashed thanks to the property of the liquid. This was, after all, the Pool of Memories, the place that helped any sage that felt like it to remember any moment of his or her life. After all, the life of a sage of Kandrakar, not mention of any Oracle, could be so long that forgetting something was quite easy.

Looking at the memories, Endarno raised an eyebrow. "A quite… intense life" commented the Guardian of the Tower of Mist.

Tibor made one more step. "A barbaric life" said Himerish's right hand man.

In truth, Sylva's memories were mostly composed of his depraved and violent acts over the years. His murders and abuses of strength. But, interestingly, there was nothing in them that could be related at Kandrakar or at the Guardians, which was impossible, if the testimonies of the quintet of girls were believed. And they were.

"So… memory block? Or perhaps shattering?" asked Tibor to te Oracle.

Himerish negated with a movement of his head. "No, my friends. If the memory was just blocked or damaged, the waters of the pond would be enough to unlock or heal it. But there is no lock to decipher, no harm to be healed. The man simply doesn't remember."

"Memory extraction then?" it was Endarno this time. "That's quite the feat, if I must say"

"You are right Endarno; that's not an ability that can be developed easily. I could count the beings that can use it with the fingers of one hand. And none of them are currently on Earth." Himerish pondered a little after saying this. Then he sighed tiredly. "Endarno, this man is of no use, but has proven quite dangerous. For the moment put him in one of the non-enchanted cells of the Tower of Mist." Endarno bowed and proceed to teleport with Sylva to the prison of Kandrakar. "Tibor, make sure that Halinor informs the Guardians about this news. If they are dealing with someone with enough ability to remove a certain memory from someone's mind and leave the others ones unscratched, then they must be in permanent vigilance. You may leave now; I have something more to attend to"

Tibor bowed too and departed, albeit by feet in contrast with Endarno. Himerish started to leave the chamber too. When he reached one of the halls that led to the Chamber of the Aurameres; a sage approached him. It was a man as tall as Himerish, but his skin was deep blue and his eyes of a brilliant red. A shirt amount of hair adorned his head and a serene expression his face. The man bowed slightly in signal of respect and greeting to Himerish. "Oracle Himerish, may you have a moment?"

Himerish looked a little surprised by the petition, but didn't negate the man's request. "Sage A'heres, isn't it? If it's not a problem, could you accompany me? I have something to attend with Sage Luba."

"Not a problem" answered the blue skinned sage.

Walking side by side, the blue man spoke. "We are heading to the Chamber of the Aurameres because the late generation has requested it?"

Himerish didn't like the tone of the sage. But he had to answer. "Yes" answered the Oracle. "They are worried about their abilities. There is a mysterious foe that threatens the safety of Earth. It could be problematic to solve that problem if they cannot use their abilities to their full extent; or even properly"

A'heres looked thoughtfully att he front of the hall. After a few minutes, he said. "Perhaps we are spending too much resources into this generation?" suggested the blue skinned sage.

"What do you mean with that?" asked Himerish, sounding a little more serious than usual, his usual calm smile disappearing from his face.

"Forgive my insolence, but, isn't the reason behind the choice of humans to be the receptacles of the Aurameres that they are expendable' At least that was what…?"

"Enough!" shouted Himerish, and even the sages that were in the opposite end of the Fortress of Light noticed how the building shacked under the power that the Oracle wielded. "I know quite well the decisions of my predecessors, even the ones related to the Purges of Earth and the reorganization of the Guardian System. Don't dare to suggest that I should enforce that decision into those girls, A'heres; not after all they had done."

A'heres stood firmly, his face sowing not fear or any other emotion. "It was only a advice, venerable Oracle. My experience has taught to me that earthlings are not… quite good to lean yourself on. Just… have it in mind, venerable Oracle. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad to return to the old ways."

With that, A'heres and Himerish departed in opposite directions, both returning to their usual duties. The blue skinned man sighed. Humans weren't reliable. They were monsters that didn't deserve their place and power; and the Oracle was too stubborn to see it. If there was a way to show everyone of the risk that they represented…

* * *

 ** _The world of Earth. Heatherfield at midday._**

In Heatherfield, a cople of hours had passed since the girls had ended their fights and returned to their homes. No one of them wanted to talk about it. They just wanted to rest and wait until tomorrow. And to think that in a few hours it would be Christmas Eve… Cornelia thought if Caleb would come to the party, and of what she was going to give Lillian and her parents as presents.

Both Irma and Taranee were trying to relax themselves, the first one with a bath and the second one reading a book. Their minds revolved around the destiny of Sylva. While Taranee was starting to accept that Kandrakar have to kept him prisoner, she still doubted that their ex-teacher should be in the hands of the Council of Light. She hoped that the man would return to Earth, and be judged by his equals.

Irma, in the other hand, thought that Sylva shouldn't have made it to Kandrakar. They should have killed that asshole in the moment they have an opportunity! Shit, if that man ever returned from the Fortress… He would regret doing that to Hay Lin and the other innocent people!

In the Vandom residence, Will was quietly resting in the couch of her house's living room. She could hear her mother in the bathroom, having a shower, in the superior floor. She was already there when Will arrived. The redhead started to make little bolts of Quintessence in her hands, just for killing time.

"Will?!" came her mother's voice from upstairs. "Is that you?!" shouted the mother.

"Yeah!" shouted the daughter from below. "I got here just a few moments ago!"

Will could hear movement from upside. She heard steps, slowly coming closer. Her mother appeared after that, posing in the entrance of the living room with just a towel around her curvaceous body. Will glanced at her from the couch, making sure that the bolts of Quintessence weren't unnoticed as they faded away. Looking at her almost naked mother, a part of Will's mind started to hope that genetics could be kind with her.

"Did Mr. Olsen go somewhere? I passed by his store to salute you but it was closed" said the older woman.

Will thought as fast as she could. "Yeah… he and Matt had to leave the city, something about a family member getting sick. They aren't going to be here for Christmas, though…"

Noticing that her daughter was slightly depressed, Susan made a suggestion. "Hey… I need some things for the dish that I'm going to bring to the arty tomorrow; wanna go buy them for me?" Susan signaled a piece of paper that rested upon one of the small tables of the room.

Will took the paper and, reading it, stood up from the couch, decided to use the assignment to kill some time. "Sure, why not?" Then the redhead took her jacket and exited her home to the cold outside, hoping that the task could be enough of a distraction.

Susan waited a little, and then returned upstairs. The voice of Dean Collins came from the bathroom. "Did you make her go outside?"

"Yep" said Susan, dropping the towel to the floor and getting inside the fuming room again. "Now, where were we…?"

* * *

Across the city, in the last floor of a huge building, there was the flat of a new couple. Currently, just like dean and Susan were about to go at it, they were finishing their own 'bed business'. The woman moaned under the weight of the toned body of the man on top of her, who violent and powerfully, almost with the will of a rapist, trusted his member inside of her again and again.

Holding his tighter with her hands on his back, she put her legs around his waist in order to push him even more forward. The woman moaned in ecstasy as the man finally released his load inside of her. Gasping, she freed her lover and he stood up, arching his back, her hands running through his abdomen until they ended at her sides; her body exhausted and wanting a deserved sleep.

Broking their physical connection, the man exited the bed and, putting into a pair of white pants, he let his woman to sleep. Ah, how many women had he had with the pass of the decades, of the centuries? If they had knew with whom they were sleeping… probably wouldn't mind. The woman he had confessed his secret hadn't minded.

He then noticed something itching by his left eye's corner, and moving his head with a smile on it, he reached for the fridge and pulled out two cans of beer. He headed for the terrace of the flat and, entering it, let the cold air of winter to caress his semi-naked body. He opened one of the cans and, sipping from it, he held up the other one, offering it to his guest.

Ricardo Herbosa took the can and, opening it he took a large gulp. He then glared at the man in front of him. Anthony 'Tony' Vandom, the biological father of Wilhelmina Vandom, looked at him. "What?" asked the man, letting the wind to move his red hair.

"Your daughter had a fight with her boyfriend today" said seriously the floating Spanish man.

"Really? They discussed?" said the redhead man, chuckling a little between sobs of beer.

"When I mean fight, I mean fight" assured Ricardo.

Tony made his face look serious. "Is she okay?"

"You do actually care now?" asked the Spanish elder.

"Ricardo…" said Tony, the red in his eyes getting a little more intense.

"She is okay, I assure you, capullo" he took another gulp of the beer can.

"Insulting me is not necessary." retorted Tony. "And of course I care. She is my daughter, after all."

The two men made a pause, and continued drinking from their cans until they were empty. Ricardo tossed his to Tony, who caught it in midair. "Do you want another one?" asked the redhead to the wrinkled floating man. Ricardo negated. "No, I don't want to be a molest, your girlfriend…"

"Fiancé" corrected Tony.

"Right, your fiancé could ask several questions, and I'm not known for disturbing a couple that had just get out of bed. I wanted to tell you about your daughter. That's all."

Ricardo sat in the border of the balcony of the terrace, his legs moving in the void under his. Tony tossed the emptied cans in a little paper bin in the corner of the terrace and leaned his arms over the same balcony where Ricardo was sitting. "Thank you" said sincerely Tony.

"Don't thank me, demonio. It was the right thing to do, but don't be mistaken" Ricardo jumped off the balcony and started to levitate in the air. Folding his arms again, he stood in the air and looked over Tony "I _will_ end your life. It doesn't matter how much time it takes me, or how much effort. Have a nice day, prince" and with that last sentence, Ricardo flew over the skies of Heatherfield, getting out of sight.

Tony Vandom moved his head and decided to go to check in Serena and take another beer from the fridge. " _Prince, eh?_ " thought the redhead. In his way to his room, his eyes rested a little by a little puzzle box that was in the principal hall of his flat as a decorative ornament. " _They used to call me Count, though._ "

* * *

Hours passed, and the midday became afternoon. In the outskirts of Heatherfield, there was the city's airport. And in it, in time for the festivities, a private plane arrived. Once in the ground, a pair of figures descended from it, being received by a limousine and a driver.

Getting closer to the car, were a middle aged man of regular stature, with black hair in his head combed backwards, a thin line of facial hair making a modest but elegant beard in his face. He had deep blue eyes and dressed in a burgundy formal suit.

His companion and wife was a woman that looked much younger than him. She also had black hair, but hers was short and left to grow quite alive, a little lock of it almost covering one of her almond eyes. She also was dressed in burgundy, albeit her attire was only composed of a short dress and a pair of boots that let everyone that dared to look to see her long toned legs. This woman was actually quite displeased.

"Victor, I swear, which is the end of having a private plane if you can't ordeal all the dishes you want?" said the woman quite angrily.

"Sephiria…" said the man, his deep voice enhancing his words "you ate two complete adult menus. The cookers of the plane cannot afford to cook more just for you."

"I know, I know… jeez Victor, you should take it a little easier; it was just a joke. You are starting to sound as embittered as Theodore" said the woman, a smile forming in her face.

"Let's make a deal" proposed the deep voiced man. "When we arrive at the city I will treat you to whatever you can eat" said the man, Victor, to his wife. " _At least I think that my wallet could afford it… It would be a good place to tell her about Sylva's mess, though. She is going to hate it…_ " added the man in his thoughts.

"Yay! I love you, Victor!" cheered the woman.

"I hope that it's not the only think that you love about me" a funny smile appearing in his face.

"Oh, you know that it's not" said Sephiria, with an equal playing smile in her face.

The couple reached for the limousine. The driver, dressed in a typical attire of his profession, saluted them when they reached the vehicle. "Mr. Doomstad; Ms. Doomstad. Welcome to Heatherfield"

And with that, the matrimony mounted the car and the vehicle marched towards the city. Christmas Eve was over their heads, the day ending in a few hours, letting the nightmare of hate to fade away… at least for the moment.

" _I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain._ " James Baldwin

* * *

 **Author Notes: And… there it is, the sixth one! That was a Gust of Hate, the second part of the Riddle Arc. Next chapter we left the Earth and get back to Meridian; and we will get a look and how the things are going on there. And also, since the chapter is going to be called Childre of a dysfunctional world, I'm going to focus mainly in the young days of some of the key figures of the world. So, if you are fans of either Phobos or Caleb (or both) prepare to know, aside from other things, my version of their childhoods.**

 **For this chapter, the first half is battle oriented, and it was meant to be in the previous one… but it didn't look good to introduce Ricardo and all… Also, yes, both Ricardo (if you don't understand some of his words in spanish, ask for it and I will give you a list with traductions) and A'heres (his one is an omage to the favourite Grand Admiral of the Empire, due to his appearence in the late trailer of Rebels) are my OC and they will have weight in the story. And yes, the character I mentioned earlier is Tony Vandom, Will's father. "Ah! The good girl's father is a bad guy! Cliché!" Well, yeah, but one of the things that I always wanted to see was Tony as an active enemy of the girls. In the comics he is just an asshole, and in the cartoon he is… normal, so I wanted to transform him into a Hierophant, and actually a pretty special one… You will have to wait to see… Hehehehe.**

 **For the end, hope you enjoyed the read and Matt's 'problem's' conclusion (or is not concluded?) and Ricardo's hammy, boisterous and kind behavior. Also, those of you familiarized with the comic should be also familiar with the term Fast World, and should have deduced with whom the Spanish man was speaking. Also, the Purges of Earth are my own invention and are meant to darken the past of Kandrakar and its Oracles. Also, Starter Villain is down and Big Bad and Arc Villain (and his Co-Dragons) steps in. Yes, I love TV Tropes. But Sylva is gonne, and Riddle and the Doomstads step in the picture, ready to create a World Without Magic. Why? Wait and discover it!**

 **So, see you all in the first Meridian Interlude. Until then, have pleasant days and nights.**


	7. Chapter 7: First Meridian Interlude

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH. It's the property of the Mighty Disney Company.**

 **Hello, my dear readers. Hope you enjoyed the previous chapter, and welcome to the seventh chapter of A different story and the first Meridian Interlude, Children of a Dysfunctional World. Like I said in the A/N of the previous chapter, this chapter will be mainly focused in the childhoods of both Caleb and Phobos, so if you are a fan of them, congrats! I remember to all of you that I don't like Phobos… but that's because I think that the writers and network messed with what he was intended to be. So, I'm going to use this chapter to transform Phobos into MY Phobos, and albeit I'm going to try and present a good and plausible Freudian Excuse for him, my Phobos is going to end being an asshole at the same level that the ones from both canon material… with the intention of making him a proper villain that fits into this story's premise and ambient. And if you remember from the second chapter, I said that the rebels of MY story have done some nasty stuff during the war, so don't be surprised for the things that I show you here. After all, a war is a hell on earth, and both parties that partake in it commit both glorious and heinous acts.**

 **So, let's move onto the chapter, have a pleasant read and leave a review.**

 **PD: Albeit the quotes for the previous chapters were from some relevant figures, the ones used in the interludes are going to be songs and… are going to be two. I will explain later why.**

 **PD2: This chapter turned out to be the largest in the story yet. Jesus!**

 **PD3: You may noted that I changed this story's genre from Fantasy and Adventure to Fantasy and Tragedy. Because, let's be sincere and especially after this chapter. This IS a Tragedy.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter seven

First Meridian Interlude

Children of a Dysfunctional World

 _After the nightmares. Weak is our mind. It could be the devil hiding inside everyone. Throughout these visions, it's reality. But now it makes me wonder should I carry on my way._ The Dark Memories; Heavenly.

 ** _The world of Meridian (Metamoor)_**

During his entire life, Havárakh of the deep swamps (a Galhot with a pale green skin and a series of white protuberances in his head that were so big that looked almost like curved horns), had done nothing aside from transporting merchandise over Meridian. His entire family had been dedicated at that profession since his great-grandfather's generation. When Havárakh was born, his family had a whole convoy of caravans at their disposal, and other three families working under their care. Since he was a child, his father had reminded him that his priority wasn't the amount of gain he could gather, but the prosperity of the families that composed the convoy. In his first years as chief, it had been an easy task. The convoy was prosperous enough to afford some failures of a novice.

The hard times had come with the tyranny. Phobos ditched the majority of the commercial guilds away, and the bunch of familiar businesses that lasted had to pay almost all of their gains to the corrupted court of the prince. For the convoy of caravans and everyone that composed it, those had been times of hunger. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary for a lot of time to pass in order for the Rebellion to rise and defy the tyrant, and lend a hand to the fellow meridianite.

During those times, Havárakh had done some jobs for the Rebellion; mainly transporting weaponry between their freight, or having members hiding amongst their crew. When the rebels had overthrown the tyrant, Havárakh smiled with joy. He kept doing jobs for the rebels, but now it was official, and it was mainly material for the reconstruction of Meridian. It seemed like the good times were going to return. But that dream was shattered easily. And he wasn't thinking about the kidnap of the Queen, or the return of the tyrant. He was so focused into conquering other realms that didn't care for something so small as his family and him. And Meridian could function quite surprisingly well without a Queen; only with the Court and the Ministers.

No, he was speaking about Kelliwick. About the monstrosity of silver metal that the Queen had inaugurated not so many days ago, and that made possible for the miners to treat the raw minerals that extracted from the mines and transform them into metals. This allowed them to distribute them to the public almost instantly. And if word was to be trusted, the Court was planning to build more of them in the time being. They had started already; and even if they were smaller than the one of Kelliwick (that was so massive that it looked terrifying sometimes) they were proving as functional as their predecessor. The engineers and builders worked day by day, without taking a nap.

These were bad news for Havárakh and his convoy. The majority of jobs and deals that he had were with the miners of that city. They extracted, he transported and delivered, and some others transformed the minerals into whatever they wanted. He had his money for it and spent it into the necessities of his followers. But with that Dammed construct… _factory_ they had called it; had ruined everything. Little by little, their economical savings were decaying; their provisions were thinner and less day by day. And the worst part was that he couldn't protest. Almost everyone was amazed about those _factory things_ , everyone looked proud of them, happy about them… His convoy was obsolete now. That situation made Havárakh to take a… different approach to his profession, one that he didn't take since the end of the tyranny.

He had resorted to contraband. It hadn't been something big, just a bunch of jewels and furniture that he and his most trusted companions had bought to a raven haired girl in the outskirts of a lonely village, and that they were planning to sell into some random village to whoever wanted them … or in the Passling Market. They had opted for the Passling Market; at least Havárakh did, not wanting to attract too many attention. Everything had gone smoothly… until they mentioned the raven haired girl to some Passling called Blunk. That had been their undoing, and what had led him where he was now.

He was in one of the interrogation chambers of the castle, his butt sit into an uncomfortable chair, his hands cuffed to a small table, both of them made of metal. It wasn't properly a cell, and of course it wasn't one of the believed terrible cells of the mythological Infinite City… but it was a terrible place to be. There were two guards taking care about him, and sometimes he eyed them and the pair retorted back with a gaze that indicated that he wasn't the only one not knowing was going to happen.

That dammed Passling! The moment they had mentioned the girl, it hadn't pass seconds for a platoon of Guards to appear on their location and arrest them. And the worst part was that the Dammed green dwarf had gotten away with their merchandise! He had ever believed the rumors of Passlings being tricksters, liars and thieves to be just that, rumors; but now he was reconsidering it…

Then the door of the chamber opened, and three figures entered. The first one was a skinny human being that, just after entering and without saying a word neither to him not to the two guards; positioned himself behind Havárakh. The second one was the Dammed Passling. Havárakh scolded at him with the angriest look he could master. The Passling shivered and, not hiding his unease, directed himself to the third and final figure approaching the chamber.

"This is the man, Caleb. You ask Blunk, and Blunk gives him to you" said the Passling to the third man. Wait a second there… Caleb? As in Caleb the Rebel Leader? The right hand man of the Iron Queen?

Havárakh looked at him directly and, in truth, it was the former Rebel Leader and now one of the top officials of the royal militia, Caleb, son of Julian; in the usual attire the merchant had seen him in so many meetings with the rebellion, or standing beside the Queen in the Court. The young but experienced commander took off his brown coat and, after putting it to one side, he sat down in front of Havárakh, hands put together with his chin over them, letting the weight of his head to rest. Without even making a gesture, he spoke to the pair of guards. "Get out; you two aren't needed here anymore." His tone was serious, almost cold. The pair of soldiers disappeared behind the door, and let the Passling, the commander, the mysterious man and the merchant turned contrabandist alone in the room.

Havárakh looked at the young man, who hadn't taken his green, intense gaze off of him since he had sat down. The merchant shivered. This wasn't some light punishment for breaking the law. This was something much more serious. Where the hell he had dragged him and his co-workers into?

His thoughts were interrupted when Caleb directed to the man behind the Ghalot. "You are one of Gorlois's men, aren't you?" the man nodded. "Do you understand why you are here?" The man nodded again. "Good." Caleb eyed the green skinned man. "And you, do you understand why _you_ are here?"

At first Havárakh didn't know what to say. After several minutes, he answered. "I would say I'm here because I broke the law committing contraband, but considering the fact that someone of your rank is here, sitting in front of me, I say that there is more to me being here than that."

"Good answer" said Caleb. He then made a signal with his right hand's index, and the man behind Havárakh tossed a bunch of papers over his head. The papers ended over the metal table with an small "poof". Ten Caleb took one of them. "Blunk said to me that you gathered quite the amount of freight … from a certain raven haired girl. Tell me, did she look like this one?" and then showed the paper he was holding to him.

In it, drawn almost perfectly, was the image of the same raven haired girls that he had bought his freight to. The same blue and white colored dress, the same blue eyes. But at the side of the image was something much more unnerving. It looked like a giant, black-furred spider-like being. Why was something like that at the side of…? Oh. Oh shit, did he make a deal with a shapeshifter? The court didn't tolerate shapeshifters! They had been at the service of the Prince since the first minute; the fucking right hand man of Phobos was a shapeshifter, for the love of…!

Havárakh stopped his torrent of thoughts and calmed his mind. Lying to a high commander wasn't a good idea. "Yes" answered the Galhot. "That was the girl, but I had no idea she was a shapeshifter back then. If I had known…"

Caleb silenced him holding up one hand. "You aren't here because she was a shapeshifter. You are here because she, as an individual, is an escapee of the Court and the law of Meridian. Now what I want to know more than that are the two next things. First, I want to know where did you make contact with her and second" Caleb pulled out another paper, showing it to Havárakh. This one held the image of a quite beautiful, regal dressed blond man. The Galhot knew perfectly of whom that image was. That was Lord Cedric, the closest man to the Prince back in the dark days. But wasn't he imprisoned? Oh gods, did he escape? Havárakh didn't remember seeing him with the girl, although. Still… he had more important things to care about. The merchant made his move.

"Where are my men?" asked the horned Galhot.

"In another section of the castle. Now, if you could answer me…" said Caleb.

"Another section? Like the dungeons under the castle? Did you put my men in there?" retorted back Havárakh.

Caleb didn't answer. He put his hands directly over the table and closing his eyes and sighing; he made a gesture to the man behind Havárakh with a movement of his head. "You know what to do."

"Yes sir" answered plainly the man.

The next him Havárakh knew was that his head was smashed onto the metallic table. It hurt. A lot. Then the man held up his head, and the merchant looked how Caleb stood up from his seat and stared directly to the man's eyes. "Was Cedric with that girl? Where are they?" his tone was cold, h sounded almost mechanical.

"I don't…" started Havárakh, just for his head to be slammed again against the table.

"Wrong answer" said Caleb, whilst Havárakh's head was being held up again, a red line of blood getting down from his head. "Next try, where are Cedric and Miranda?"

Miranda? Was that the little girl's name? "I… It was a lonely small village… I cannot recall…"

"Wrong answer again" and the poor Galhot's head slammed again against the now red colored metal. "Try to think better" said Caleb, the coldness of his voice starting to fade away and letting an angry tone to take its place.

"Caleb…" it was the Passling now. "Blunk doesn't think that you should…"

"You have no word on this, Blunk!" shouted Caleb to the little green dwarf, who jumped a little, scared by his friend's intense answer. Looking back at Havárakh, who had his head held up again, this time with more blood running down his forehead and face. "Where?!"

"My head hurts…" said Havárakh. Of course, that was still the 'wrong answer'. And this time, Caleb was the one who took hold of his head, and slammed it one, two, three times against the table. He let the man there, his blood dirtying the table and starting to drop to the ground. He draw nearer to the man and whispered directly into his ear. "That man had killed my friend. I won't rest and I won't stop at anything until I saw him and that girl of his hanged out by their throats in the streets so everyone can see their rotten bodies. So, you either tell me where are they, or I will slam your face against this table so many times that your own mother won't recognize you. Or maybe" said Caleb, the coldness of his voice returning, adding more points to his intimidation "do you want for me to let you here and take this 'interrogation' to the ones we captured with you"

That was the proper stimulation. Havárakh opened his eyes wide, and not thinking otherwise, he said "A little village with no name by the side of the Mirmirine fields of the east. I never saw the snake-man with her, I swear""

"The double-colored flower fields? Near Carhaiz?" asked Caleb, the coldness now starting to get accompanied by a mischievous smirk. His prisoner nodded. "See? That's a good answer. Still" said Caleb, raising from his posture and putting his cloak again. "You have broken the law and make a deal with a dangerous criminal; a shapeshifter, no less. So…" Caleb directed to the man behind Havárakh. "Put this criminal and his companions in a cell of the dungeons of the castle. Make sure that no one out of your unit or Gorlois himself makes contact with them." Caleb then started to leave, with Blunk in tow. Havárakh glared at the young man's back with hatred. He hoped that at least his men were unharmed.

Once the door closed behind their backs, silence took hold of the pair until the green dwarf spoke. "Caleb, Blunk thinks that you didn't have to do that…"

Caleb looked at his companion. The little Passling had stayed by his side since they were rescued by the Guardians that fateful day in the dungeons of the castle, their world still under Phobos' grasp. He had been helpful in many ways to the Rebellion, and to him personally. Looking oddly and considerably more calmed, Caleb spoke to the little man, trying to reassure him. "I'm sorry to have to involve you in this, Blunk. But if I needed to know Cedric's location."

"And the spider-girl's…" added the Passling.

Caleb shook his head. "Miranda is irrelevant, but where she is, there Cedric would be too. And he must return to his cell, for the best of our world." " _And for Aldarn to rest in peace_ " added the man in his thoughts, his fist clenching. "Look Blunk" continued Caleb, "I didn't like to have to do that to that man either, but sometimes you have to do something bad in a small level to get something good in a bigger one. At least, that was what I was taught." Then Caleb moved his head, letting one of the bangs of his hair to move from his forehead to its rightful place. "That man and his companions will be kept captive until their debt with the law is paid; and his wounds close. Then he and he others will return to their regular lives. They are only a means to an end, after all."

Blunk nodded silently. He was starting to think that he had made an error at telling the guards about the merchants. Curiosity took hold of his mind. "Who?" asked the Passling to the young man.

"Who what?" retorted back Caleb.

"Blunk wants to know… who taught you that?" asked the Passling again, this time formulating his sentence in a better manner.

Caleb looked strangely at his front. Blunk and he kept walking by the halls, into the Queen's private chambers direction. Caleb wanted permission to hunt the snake, and also to put his 'Elite Squad' idea to practice. He had enough time to remember while walking. Now, who had taught him that? His father, maybe? Caleb sunk into his deepest memories, recalling the steps that had made the way to where he was now…

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian. Many years ago. The times of Queen Weira._**

In one of the houses that composed the city that lay at the feet of the castle of the House of Escanor, a little brown-haired boy with curious and vivid green eyes played with a little sword made of wood. He was beating invisible monsters with it, making himself the protagonist and hero of his own stories.

His name was Caleb, a little boy of only four years old, the son of Julian, one of the men that composed the lower ranks of the militia of Meridian. His father never had set foot in the castle, but they had enough to life. That day, little Caleb waited playing, while his father hadn't yet returned from his job. There was a little procession in the capital today, and even if the palace guards could get a hold of everything themselves, there was never enough security when it came to the royal family. It was the first time in Caleb's short life that he was going to see the royals, even if he was going to do it from a distance.

That was the reason behind his little… 'sword practice'. Maybe if he swung his wooden sword and killed enough imaginary monsters, he could get a job at the palace! Protecting the Queen, or the Princess… no wait, his father had told him, there was no Princess this time. It was a Prince. But, hey, maybe they could become friends. At least that was Caleb's reasoning; the only one that his young mind could provide.

The door of the house made a sound, and Julian entered through it, his hair a little longer than in the present, and his beard not fully grown; only leaving a thick moustache and a little goatee. Caleb threw his faithful toy weapon to the floor and dashed to the arms of his father, who held him in his strong arms and tossed his little body into the air a few times before putting him in the ground again. Julian looked at his son and, making a funny face, put his hands in his hips and said in a playing tone. "I suppose that you aren't going to present yourself in front of royalty with that guise, son"

Caleb looked at himself. A shirt and nothing more, his little body needed nothing else to cover itself up, the clothing completely dusty due to playing continuously. The little man shook his head violently. "No! I won't bathe!" yelled the little kid, knowing where this situation was going. "I will go dusty! It's proof of my battle against the wyvern!" Caleb signaled to one spot of the room where a twisted root of a tree that was shaped like a wyvern had been battled with a wooden sword.

Not even trying to discern from where did his son get a root like that one or how he had been able to put in inside their house; Julian took Caleb and headed towards their bathing room, containing the kicks of protest of his son. Upon arriving at the bathing room, he played smugly. "But valiant warrior Caleb!" said Julian, overdramatizing. "How I'm supposed to defeat the mighty hydra that waits inside this lake if you don't come to my help?"

Little Caleb's eyes flashed with joy. "Hydra?" said the child, not hiding his enthusiasm.

"Yes, and an enormous and fearsome one!" said his father again, putting him on the ground and stretching his arms to clarify to his son how big the monster was.

Holding his little fists into the air, Caleb exclaimed "I will defeat the monster!" and after putting off the shirt that served as his clothing, the little kid jumped straight into the bath, splattering water to every side, including Julian's face. The man sighed and, holding a soap piece with a grip even stronger than the one he used with his sword, he dashed towards his own battle against a monster: cleaning his hyperactive son.

* * *

 ** _Hours later; that very same day_**

Meridian's sun was high. The streets of the capital were full of cheering people, all of them gathering in two crowds that lined up at the two sides of the primary street of the city. After all, this was a special day. This was the day when Prince Phobos, first of his name, was going to be presented to the eyes of the common man. Of course, the royal family and the Court had to done the presentation of the currently ten years old Prince in the most bombastic and animated way possible. That was the reason behind this spectacle.

But not everything among the commoners was cheering and enthusiasm upon meeting finally the heir to the throne. There were some that didn't look as happy as the others, or as enthusiastic. There were some ones that looked wary of the people that had to come. That was pretty understandable too. After all, the reason why Phobos was the first of his name was because, in the multiple generations that had composed the House of Escanor, there hadn't been a single male born from a Queen. There had been always princesses, not princes. At least until now.

Some people regarded it as a bad sing. Also, why did the Queen have to name the boy Phobos? That name sent shivers down their spines. It meant Fear, after all. Amongst the ones that thought like that, was Aldarn's father, who was waiting like everyone else, his son next to him, and a softened but persistent scowl in his face. A male Escanor… It wasn't a good thing.

His paranoid thoughts were shattered when he heard a childlike voice behind him, calling his son's name. Down the road were coming both Julian and Caleb, albeit the father holding his composure and the son rushing like a mad horse in their direction.

"Aldarn!" shouted Caleb to the other kid, who responded by dashing to the his friend's side and greeting him with a wide smile. "Hello Caleb!" said the young Galhot child.

Chuckling a little upon seeing the display of the kids, the older Galhot greeted Julian extending his hand, which the bearded man shook strongly. "Hello Julian, how was the bathe?"

"Like battling a hydra, Rhouglar, my friend" said Julian, not hiding how funny his sentence sounded to him in hindsight. Rhouglar raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what did that mean, but Caleb interrupted them with an angry yell. "There was no hydra! Only the enemy!"

"The enemy?" asked Rhouglar.

Julian nodded patiently. "He refers like that to the soap"

Rhouglar couldn't manage it and burst to laughter. Then their conversation was overpowered by the sound of trumpets. The parade had begun.

Knowing that both children were so little to see properly, the two grown men pulled them over their shoulders, letting them sat there in order for them to watch the procession. The first ones to arrive in their sight were the soldiers that composed the Palace Guard and the high commanding. In front, leading the formation were the Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants. Behind them were the soldiers, the majority of them with flags with the symbol of the Royal Family in opposition to holding lances or swords.

Behind them came a bunch of servants of the Court, throwing flowers to the ground, making sure that not even the feet of the royals' mounts touched the pavement. Interestingly, the one leading them was a brunette child dressed in white clothes that must have been only a few years older than Caleb, maybe 7 or 8 years old.

And then, came the Royal Family of Meridian, the three of them mounted into a roofless carriage that was being pulled by four white horses. In the center of the carriage's seat was Queen Weira, with a beautiful blue and golden dress over her body, a crown decorated by jewels adorning her golden haired head. The most prominent was a big and aquamarine one, held in the center of the crown. It shined with glory. The Queen waved politely at her people, and them waved, cheered and shouted her name back. After all, she was a good Queen, and possibly the best one that Meridian ever had in the throne. Her subjects loved her… well, the most part, at least. Between the crowds, a pair of blue icy eyes could be spotted looking hatefully at her, not even bothering with blinking. The man they belonged to twirled and walked away from the crowd of what for him were just stupid monkeys cheering at a killer; his black hair dashing in the wind.

At the right of Queen Weira, was consort Zedd, her husband and advisor. His body the one of a noble that was more accustomed to fighting in the Court with the tongue that in the field with the sword; his hair was of a silver tone; almost like if nature wanted to emphasize the kind of relationship he had with his wife. Silver always was second to gold. And so the consort waved to the people, but knew and accepted that the cheering and the applauses would never be directed at him in the first place.

And at the left of the Queen, sat down the young Prince Phobos, his mother's gold and his father's silver meeting in him and creating a pale blond hair in his head; his eyes and nose the ones of his mother, the rest almost like his father; his expression the one of an overwhelmed child. After all, it was the first time that little Phobos had been exposed to such an amount of public. Her mother eyed him, giving the boy a reassuring smile. "Wave to the people, Phobos, they are here to see you."

Young Prince Phobos looked at the crowd and started to wave at them; first in a shy manner, then imitating his mother. After a few moments, his eyes met with the ones of an enthusiastic kid sitting in the shoulders of his father; moving his little arms as trying to gain his attention. The young Prince looked at him and then at the boy's father, kindly supporting his son over his shoulders. Zedd never had held him in that manner…

Phobos saluted directly to the kid and gave him the most sincere and happy smile he had produced in all the day. Seeing this, the kid continued to cheer for him, and Phobos' mother gave his son an approving nod. "See?" said Weira. "It's not so bad, isn't it, my little son?" Phobos' cheeks reddened a little with shy upon that remark, but he smiled back at his mother.

The carriage continued forward, the royal family getting out of sight, only leaving the ministers trailing behind them, almost like in a parody of the behavior they sported on the Court itself. But behind them came a lonely, hooded, female and silent figure, riding a black horse. The crowd's cheers almost went silent when she passed by. A few could say that some individuals were e en afraid of her. Caleb and Aldarn didn't know who she was, so they asked.

The one giving the answer was Rhouglar. "That's the Mage; the advisor of the Court in everything that entitles magic, who had been at the aid of the royals since generations. But I think that's everything I (and almost everyone) can tell you about her."

Of course, Julian could and wanted to tell more. He wanted to tell Caleb that that woman was the mother that never was in home, that she was the woman he had been born of, that he should be proud of her and go and jump into her arms. But he couldn't. Caleb wasn't old enough, and the scandal generated from that reveal could be devastating from both Mage and Court. So he kept silence.

Once the figure of the Mage passed away, the crowd started to disperse, some ones following the procession to the festivities like the quartet composed of children and adults was going to do) and some other ones heading back to their houses; but with joy in their hearths.

These were Meridian's halcyon days, peaceful, calm and happy. Sadly, it seems that the world of Meridian… doesn't like peace and happiness the way it should.

* * *

 ** _Three years later._**

Caleb was sleeping when his father busted through the door of his room and awoke him. There could be hear a storm outside, thunder and lightning echoing through the skies. His body, now the one of a seven year old boy; was still pretty tired from that day's sword practice, the toy sword long ago exchanged for one made of iron, courtesy of Aldarn. His friend was improving quite fast with his blacksmith abilities. Rhouglar must been a good teacher.

Mumbling half awaken, Caleb looked at his father, who was putting out of every closet in the house everything that belonged to them. Or at least, everything that looked important. Still incapable of discerning what was going on and thinking of it as a weird dream, Caleb tried to get under his blankets and sleep again. But his father's hand stopped him, shaking the boy violently. "Caleb; Caleb! Quick, wake up!"

Caleb mumbled again, and now knowing that this was reality and not a dream, he sat up in his bed and, after shivering due to the temperature difference, he watched his father with tired eyes. "Dad…?" was everything that Caleb could say, almost jawing. "What's happening…?"

Father looked at son, and for a brief moment Caleb could see the spark of doubt in Julian's eyes, as if the man was questioning himself about saying to his son something terrible or not. The man chose the second option. "Pack anything you judge indispensable an follow me s quick as you can. We are leaving"

"The house?" asked Caleb, getting out of his bed and starting to dress up and pack up everything he deemed valuable.

"The city. It's not safe anymore" answered the man, tossing something to Caleb in order for the boy to put it in his package. It was his sword, the one made of iron. "Hold that thing as close as you can, but don't let anyone to see it."

Caleb took the weapon and, now fully awoken, followed his father in tow. That was a bad signal. His father had never encouraged Caleb to leave the house with his sword. If his father was telling him to do it now… it couldn't be a good sing.

Once everything settled, Julian asked his son "Are you ready?" Caleb nodded, a little afraid of his father's worried expression. Julian put a hand around his shoulders, the other one in the hilt of his own sword. "Don't get away from me; and try to not gain any attention, understood?" Caleb nodded again. "Well, let's go." And father and son busted to the exterior. It would be the last time in years before they returned to that house.

The streets of the city were like hell. There were members of the Guard everywhere; entering the houses of the commoners without permission and by force, tossing aside any opposition and pulling out of them several people. If someone tried to fight back, the guards killed them at once. Blood run through the pavement of the streets, not being able to paint it red forever only due to the rain washing it away as fast and well as it could.

Caleb didn't know what the hell was going on. Every time he tried to spoke to his father, he answered with a "Silence, run quicker" and by urging him to move in a more intense pace. They were moving close to the doors and walls, trying to avoid the principal streets, using in exchange the alleys and back streets. Julian was paranoid; looking at every direction in such a manner that his neck looked like it was going to break.

Out of bad luck, a pair of guards that must had separated from their main crew in order to watch and seek the alleys found them. Julian stopped in his tracks almost instantly, hoping that neither of them would notice his sword in the dark of the night.

"You two!" shouted one of the men. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"

"Commoners, good sir. We're returning to home, the streets don't seem too safe tonight to me" said Julian. "We're just people trying to avoid conflict, we wish no harm to anyone". The guards looked at him and his son, the man incapable of discerning if they believed him, as he couldn't see their faces clearly in the dark. " _Please_ " the man thought. " _Please, please, buy it…_ "

His hopes were crushed when the one who hadn't spoke yet raised his sword, a long and imposing scimitar and charged towards them, at the scream of "For the Prince and the Crown!" Caleb thought that these words were strange and confusing. The Prince? Prince Phobos? Was he behind all this… madness? How? Why? His father, in the other hand, had something closer in both time and space to care about.

He tossed his son behind him and, unseating his sword and holding it with both hands, he jumped in the air and delivered a powerful strike to the guard of the scimitar, who used his own weapon to block it badly, throwing him out of balance with the strength of the blow, and then sending the man to the ground by a kick in the ribs. " _Novice_ " Julian thought, knowing that a full trained guard would never ash into battle swinging his weapon so carelessly and without knowing who he was fighting and what his opponent was capable of. It must have been one of those fresh, new and young soldiers that thought that they wouldn't find resistance this night. Well, they thought wrong.

The other guard was the one stepping into the fight now. He carried a shield in his right hand and a small axe in the left one. This one walked slowly, shield raised and axe lowered to his side in order to block and counter attack with an ascendant move of the weapon. Julian sighed mentally and fell into a more defensive oriented position. This one was full trained and looked experienced… and Julian never was a good fighter against the ones who battled with the left. The two soldiers looked eye to eye, expectantly, letting the drops of the rain to bathe their bodies; the two of them thinking the very same thing. " _If I move first, I lose_ "

Unfortunately, neither of them moved first. It was the guard in the floor who rose to his feet and, this time, attacked not Julian, but Caleb. Seeing this, the father tried to fall back and protect his son, but that produced an opening in his defenses that the one holding the axe used to raise it and attack the man. Julian had enough time to raise his own weapon and block the strike, but was unable to block the blow that his opponent delivered using the shield. " _Curse, I can't…_ " thought Julian with anger, seeing how he was struck in a battle and the other guard going after Caleb.

The scimitar cut the wind and the raindrops as it dashed after Caleb's throat. Took by fear the boy fell to the ground, back in the rained alley, his belongings splattering through the ground. And his sword; his iron-made sword, crafted by his friend, ended by his side. What followed looked like a dream… almost like if time was going slowly.

Caleb reached for his sword, his father still struck in the fight against the guard of the axe. The one holding the scimitar raise it much like Julian had done to attack him, almost imitating his manner, trying to deliver a descendent blow to Caleb's small body. Caleb, not knowing what to do and almost acting by instinct, raised his sword in the incoming man's direction. Neither of them expected to happen like that. The guard, in his rush, had raised his sword so high that defense or redirecting himself at that point was impossible, and impaled himself against Caleb's sword's tip.

The seven year old boy felt in his hands the tension of his weapon while it penetrated the guard's chest. He could feel it piercing through the flesh, the bones and the hearth; and how the tension went down when the sword reached the end of the flesh and burst through the back of the man.

The scimitar hit the ground and blood poured out of the guard's mouth and wound; coloring Caleb's sword in red. A few drops of the crimson liquid dropped in Caleb's face; as he looked up and his gaze met the one of the guard, like it had happen with the one of the Prince years ago. But this time Caleb didn't see happiness; but a mix of emotions that changed so fast that it was impossible to decipher which one was dominating; if there was a dominating one. Anger, confusion, sadness, fear, despair. They danced in the eyes of the man until they started to fade away.

There is an… interesting phenomenon when you kill someone. If you look directly at the eyes of that person, after all the emotions disappear, you can see something. That day, looking at that man's eyes, Caleb learnt what that something was. It was nothing, simple nothingness. The fire that adorns a living being eyes and that sparks and shines with the will to continue disappears, leaving only a dull and darkened mirror in which your face, the face of a killer, reflects and looks back at you. Many people had supposed that this phenomenon is the reason behind civilizations inventing ways of killing people from the far. From the sword to the bow. From the bow to the pistol and other guns. From them to machineguns, sniper rifles, and also bombs that are thrown from planes. And finally, nuclear weapons that can be launched by pressing a button from the comfort of a couch in an office; where you don't have to look at the eyes of the people that you are killing, living beings the same as you.

Caleb witnessed that phenomenon that day, for the first time in his life. And when the body of his dead adversary started to fall to the side, and hit the ground with a plain and low *thum* sound; the boy screamed. Screamed terrified, guilty, angered and devastated. For his entire life he had thought of his first battle as a fight against someone honorable; a worthy opponent, or the killing of a monster that threatened the lives of the innocent. But battles and wars; and the things that happen in them are fairly honorable or clean and glorious. An act of killing, even in hot blood, is something dirty and cruel. You cast an overwhelming shadow over the fire of life of a living being, shutting it down, and with it his or her dreams, memory, hopes and thoughts; wounding your own soul in the process.

So Caleb screamed, screamed almost in shock.

Meanwhile, Julian had been able to take the advantage in his fight against the other guard. Wanting to end the battle as fast as possible, he continued to overwhelm him with rapid strikes of his sword directed to the shield. It was more a fight over physical resistance than one over combat abilities and might. In that moment, the guard raised his shield more than needed, and Julian rotated over himself and directed his sword to the feet of his enemy, severing them. The guard fell to the ground screaming in pain, and Julian, not wanting to prolong the pain, delivered a precise strike to the man's head, piercing it and ended his adversary's life too. Then the man dashed towards his son, who still was screaming over the corpse of the other guard.

Throwing his sword to the ground, Julian put both of his hands in the shoulders of his child, his forehead against his. "Caleb! Caleb! Look at me" Caleb continued to look at the corpse. "Look at me, Damn it!" that gained the boy's attention. Their eyes met and Julian could see in his son's gaze the terror troubling and torturing his mind. "Listen, it wasn't your fault. He attacked you, so you defended yourself. It wasn't your fault." Caleb's eyes tried to go back to the corpse, but his father prevented it. "Keep looking at me. Listen, can you still walk and run?" the child nodded. "Good, then I need you to be strong and kept walking like we have been doing until the guards showed up. We have to leave this city."

Looking gloomy, Caleb rose to his feet with the help of his father and, after gathering their now wet and cold belongings, the pair restarted their march, leaving the only two corpses behind.

It didn't pass long when they reached a little caravan in the outskirts, that even if small, it was quite full of people. Men, women and children, all of them confused, disoriented, but above everything else, terrified. When father and son reached them, Julian put Caleb on the carriage and started to look for someone.

Caleb flexed his knees and enveloped his legs with his arms, in order to both get warm and give more space to the other people. Across the mass of people inside the caravan, Caleb could hear voices whispering ot each other, trying to discern what had happened that night.

"Don't you know?" he heard the voice of an elderly woman. "She is dead."

She? Who was that woman talking about? "No, it cannot be…" muttered another woman, this one sounding younger. "Well, start believing it" said then a male voice, which sounded sorrowful and angry "She is dead as a fish out of water; I saw it myself with my own eyes. The Queen."

The Queen? The Queen was dead? That was… impossible! Queen Weira was the all powerful Light of Meridian, the gentle ruler that cared about everyone. Why was she dead? How was she dead? Who had…? Then Caleb's mind trailed back to the alley, and the words of the guard. For the Prince and the Crown, had said the man he had… _killed_. No that couldn't be… It was her son, for the love of… But, there was no other explanation…

"I knew it" she heard the same elderly woman voice. "I knew that a male Escanor only could bring disgrace to this land. The Queen should have thrown him out of the window the moment they saw a dick attached to her baby!"

"But, do we really know that it has really been the Prince?" asked then another voice, Caleb unable to discern it as a woman's or a man's.

This time, Caleb opened his mouth. "One of the guards that were in the city… said that they were there for the Prince… and the Crown" and then Caleb fell silent again.

"Heresy!" continued the elderly woman. "That little runt of a Prince is not worthy of any Crown!"

"But… what about his sister? What about the newborn Princess?" another voice asked.

Caleb's attention drifted to that remark. Yes, there was now a newborn Princess… An heir to the throne… was she dead too? Was that the reason behind Phobos actions? Had he wanted the throne so badly that he had killed his own family for it? Were really out there people that pathetic and petty?

"Caleb!" shouted someone. The boy's head looked in the voice direction, and under the rain he saw his father accompanying both Rhouglar and Aldarn; the latter being put in the caravan like Caleb had; just at his side. Caleb and his friend looked to each other, both of them seeing the fatigue in the other one's eyes. Without saying a word, Caleb pulled one of his father's shawls out of the packing and extended it over his and Aldarn's bodies.

Letting the heat of the body of the other to warm them up, the duo started to get asleep quickly, hoping that their dreams could be a peaceful place in contrast with the terrifying night that they had passed.

"Aren't you coming?" asked Julian to Rhouglar. The Galhot shook his head.

"No. I'm a mere blacksmith, I won't be an objective of the soldiers, they are only searching for the ones that are related to the Castle or the Guard… I will stay here and inform you of what happens. Take care of Aldarn for me."

"I promise" said Julian, stretching his friend's hand as a farewell. "Try to not get killed"

"He, I have spent all my life between weapons. Let them and try to kill me if they have enough guts."

And with that, Julian joined the rest of the people in the caravan, and the driver spurred the horses, making the vehicle to move and leave the city, the sight of the castle getting smaller and smaller the more they advanced. But even when the castle was only a small silhouette in the night, only seen by the light produced occasionally by the lightning, they could still heard the screams.

* * *

 ** _Months later_**

The past had been better. And the present could be far better, but also far worse. The future was an enigma. That was something that everyone in the camp of that forest knew very well. Even since that faithful night not long enough ago, the ones who were able to escape the city have been gathering into a clearing of a forest, a camp that grew day by day formed with the pass of the days and weeks; that started with the caravan they used to get there and that continued to grow with tent, posts, an even a little vigilance tower bad built over the trunk and top of a tree.

There they lived, the escapees that run from the forces of the Prince. Soldiers that didn't side with the Prince; workers of the castle that would have died rather than serve Phobos' meals; ministers, elders and politicians that, in their hearths, hadn't stopped for serving Weira; and of course there were the commoners, the normal and humble people that either were there just hiding, or had lost someone they cared about during that attack the Usurpation Night, and wanted revenge against the Thief Prince. All of them fairly different between each other, in origin, personality and life; but with a shared thought that echoed with strength in each one's mind and soul. _The Prince must go down._

A sentiment better thought than done. Even if their shared will was to overthrown the corrupted Court and depose the Usurper; they were so few… and out of that few, only a 25% had combat and strategic training; and with an optimistic mind, only the 45% of the total could enter the battlefield. And the Usurper, what did he had in his part of the board? An army that, after the purge that the loyalist to him had delivered the Usurpation Night, was now purged of every person that could gather a few soldiers against the him. A Court composed of corrupted ministers and cowardly chief that pledged their villages' loyalty to them out of fear… and some ones out of greed and ambition. And then, of course, there were the rumors… Rumors about a tall blond man that now stood by the side of the Thief Prince; dressed in greenish regal robes. A man who could become an enormous snake-like creature in a blink of an eye and that terrified the hearths of the people and helped having them under control. A shapeshifter.

And it wasn't the only new that entered the ears of the escapees every time that one or two of them visited a village. Rumors about humanoid beast that were coming from the south and that Meridian hadn't seen in more than two centuries were heard too. They were heinous and violent towards the human and the Galhot. And they were many; and also kneeling before the Prince. Lurdens, that's what they were called by the old ones; who only remembered the name from their childhoods' stories.

So, they had, at best, five hundred men ready to fight. Phobos had an army, composed of thousands and that grew day by day by adding monsters and abominations; and also assassins and opportunists to it.

But there was still hope. In small groups, they perpetrated ambushes against the smallest platoons of guards, and the carriages that transported both gold and ministers of the Court. They were small victories, annoying to the Prince at best; but victories after all. And of course, there was the other type of rumors, the good ones.

The wind carried a breeze of hope in the form of a name. Elyon Escanor. Apparently, the Princess had survived the Usurpation Night, and was now being hid in another realm, away from her brother's machinations. If she was still out there, there was still hope for this world. Then there was the rumors that the Mage was also out there, plotting against the Prince, creating spells and formulas in order to weaken the lines of his armies. They were good enough news for a little brunette boy that was about to be eight years old, and that day by day kept practicing his sword skills.

If they had only more members; if the whole population could see what they could do if they gathered forces…

* * *

 ** _One year and a half later_**

Almost two years under the tyranny. And the only one that seemed to have got the idea about the tyrant's intentions was Meridian itself. The days were shorter, the nights larger, and both of them darker. The natural, healthy and brilliant Meridian had given pass to a gloom and decaying Meridian, something that Caleb believed to be a reflection of the Usurper's own soul.

Still, very few villages had tried to rise against the Court. And the ones that did were crushed with extreme efficiency. The worst part was that every time less and less villages and towns wanted to raise a fist against Phobos. If they didn't attack him first, there was no retribution, and you only had to pay the exorbitant taxes to the Crown and let the corrupted chiefs of the villages to do what they pleased with the people. So the escapees continued to rob from the Court and tried to decimate the forces of the Prince the best they could.

That day, almost a decade old now, Caleb was supposed to partake in his first battle. It was nothing remarkable; only an ambush over a carriage that contained something _special_ and was being transported directly to the Court. It was an opportunity they didn't want to slip away from their hands. Maybe it was a weapon that they could use against the tyrant.

So, there was Caleb, his father not so much away from him, always worried of this day; and he cowered behind some bushes; a dark skinned Galhot around his age at his right. They waited a little, their breathing sound the only thing that could be heard aside the birds and the insects. Then, the sound of approaching wheels started to resonate over the road. After a few minutes, the carriage and a whole platoon of Guards showed up in the road. It was more company than they anticipated, but it was nothing they couldn't handle due to the surprise factor.

Julian made a sign to a man that was sitting over a branch of a tree, and he shot an arrow to the driver of the carriage, which impacted in the man's head and made him fell dead in the act. One of the guards of the platoon (the one leading it, Caleb supposed) raised his weapon and shouted "Ambush!" but it was too late to react. The little group fell over them like an angry mob of bees.

At first, Caleb trailed back behind the veterans and adults. But then, an attack came from the left, and he stopped it with his sword. It was a guard holding a small lance designed to being held with one hand. He didn't wear a shield or something for protection. An easy one. Caleb started to swing his sword swiftly against the lancer. In that moment, trying to block with a petty lance a sword like the one of Caleb, the guard discovered something. Never judge a book by its cover.

The boy spluttered a battle cry and, with all the might he could master, he swung his sword, breaking his enemy's lance and encrusting his weapon in the man's side. Caleb heard the man's ribs breaking, and also felt how his sword let them behind and continued until reaching the man's stomach. Caleb took the sword back, letting it free from his adversary's flesh. A torrent of blood and intestines followed the retiring of the weapon, and the man hit the ground dead, his eyes deprived of life. Exactly like last time.

Taking advantage of him being distracted, another guard approached Caleb, this one holding a great-sword. The enemy was the first to swung, and Caleb didn't have time to block the blow. So he jumped back. Unfortunately, he landed bad and ended with his back in the ground, is enemy coming with the sword raised up. Just like the last time. But in this one Caleb wasn't the one to give the death blow. The tip of a sword appeared in the man's chest, and Caleb looked dumbfounded how the man fell to the ground, revealing the dark-skinned Galhot behind him, his sword painted in red. He threw a hand to Caeb, and helped him to stand.

"Gorlois" saluted the dark skinned Galhot, giving Caleb his name. "Good grief that I got him, eh?"

"Caleb" presented himself the human. "And I had him under control"

"Sure… if under control means that you were almost a splat in the ground" said the young Gorlois with a cocky and disrespectful grin.

Caleb scowled at that behavior, but dismissed it and looked around. Arrows flew towards the enemy, and the ones in the ground were finishing the platoon quickly. Even if they were less in numbers, they compensated by having men each one of them worth of ten of the Usurper's servants.

The ambush finalized, the group approached the carriage and started to unlock the door, but then something got Julian's attention. One of the guards that were on the ground was not dead yet; and with a smashed nose and a blooded face, he smiled maliciously in their direction. Julian understood what was going on. "No! Don't open it!" shouted the man, but it was too late. The door was opened, and there was no way back.

Something jumped from inside the carriage, straight into the face of the one who just opened it, who landed in his back screaming in pain; but not for very long. Caleb saw then a nightmarish dog holding up his head, a piece of the men's throat in his mouth which the animal proceeded to swallow. Then it jumped and positioned itself at the side of the opened door.

Then followed a step from the dark, and then another. And another one and another one. And then Caleb felt terror, real terror, for the first time in his life. Standing at the door of the carriage, was an imposing man in a typical hunter's attire, even with a pointy hat over his head. But that was everything that could identify him as a man. His skin was green and shagged, almost putrefactive and rotten. His face had his teeth exposed, and his eyes were of an intense red, without pupils or irises… or even sclera. None of them had ever met some of those things, but due to fairy tales, they knew what it was. An undead. It had been a trap from the beginning. The special thing Phobos wanted was in fact a weapon. One designated to kill them when they opened the door, and that had worked smoothly.

The undead looked around. It breathed and a little amount of smoke left his mouth. He then gave another step. And another one; until he descended from the vehicle. In his right hand, Caleb spotted a flail involved in some sort of green energy that ended into a massive mace. " _Magic_ " thought Caleb. " _That has to be magic…_ "

Everyone held their breaths, except for the undead and the dog that accompanied him. Took by fear, the man in the branch shot an arrow into the monster's direction; but it never hit him. The undead raised his arm and caught the arrow with his free hand.

Looking more annoyed than anything else, he moved the greenish flail and directed it fast into the archer's direction. The mace hit the man and shattered both the branch and the archer's body. Then he made his green weapon to come back to him. The body of the archer landed between his comrades, deprived of live.

With an angry shout, the majority of the men charged towards the undead. Not changing his expression (not that he could anyway) he attached them again with the flail, smashing several of them with it. Other ones were able to evade and continued attacking, but then the undead whistled (how he did it without lips was both confusing and unnerving) and the dog jumped again straight into the jugular of one of the men. Julian looked at their remaining forces. This was a battle they couldn't win. The Prince had them there. It was his victory.

"Retreat!" shouted Julian. "Retreat to the woods!" and obeying, the men, including Caleb, started to retreat to the safe of the trees, leaving anything that could slow them down behind. In his mind, Caleb's hatred towards the Prince intensified. He could have sent the undead directly after them, but he had sacrificed all those men just because he wanted to tire them down. Despicable man…

Caleb slowed down for a moment; if they were retreating, where was his father? He looked in every direction, but saw nothing. Then he looked back and saw his old man holding his own against the undead, slowing the monster down. He wasn't retreating.

"Father!" shouted Caleb, trying to run towards his progenitor, but a strong arm held him by the waist and took him in the air, getting away from the scene. A blue bulky Galhot was holding him in his grip and transporting him. Caleb kicked in protest but was unable to free himself. "Let me down! I have to help him! We have to help him! Father!"

The Galhot shook his head. "It's his last order. I'm going to honor it." And with that, he hit the boys head with his fist and put him unconscious, making him easier to carry on. The last thing that Caleb saw before falling to the dark was his father back, and he heard the words "Be strong" directed to him.

Back in the battle, Julian fought against the monster. "Who the hell are you?" asked the man to the undead.

The monster's eyes intensified a little. He then opened his mouth, and a raspy and old voice came. "I'm the Tracker. I'm here to hunt you"

Julian held his sword high, determination in his eyes. "I'm not afraid of you" said the man, prepared to throw his life down defeating the monster.

"Then" said the undead, preparing another blow of his demonic flail "you are a brave prey, but a prey after all"

* * *

 ** _A day after the encounter with Tracker._**

Caleb was having a nightmare. He was a child again, the same child that had battled with the imaginary wyvern. He was now running towards the back of his father. But it didn't matter how much he tried, he couldn't reach it.

Then an enormous hand held Caleb and started to pull him back. "Dad!" shouted the child, tears forming under his eyes. "Come back, I need you!" but Julian didn't listen. He twirled back and looked at his son, blood dropping from his mouth and Caleb's own sword nailed in his chest, just like the first man that Caleb had killed.

"Be strong" said Julian, before an enormous figure with a pointy hair rose from anywhere and, using a flaming flail, killed him.

"AH!" shouted Caleb, awakened and sweating cold. He was in his bed, in the camp. In what only could be described at home. Some say that home is where your family is. Caleb looked at his hand, and then put both of them in his head. He remembered the clearing, the carriage, and the undead.

And of course, his father.

Caleb swiped a lonely tear from his cheek. He had lost him too now. Like with everyone else, the Usurper had taken something from him. Someone entered the tent where he slept. It was the same blue Galhot that had carried him away from the battle. The same person that had honored his father's last request. He couldn't avoid feeling a little hatred towards him, but still he knew that the Galhot had done well.

"Are you awake?" Caleb nodded to the man's question. "Good. There is a very important meeting in almost an hour. Dress up, eat something and come to where the others are. By the way," said the blue man while exiting the tent "my name's Vathek. Your father was a great man. I won't let you die, I promise"

Then he exited the tent, and left Caleb alone. He dressed and took a bowl of hot water and a few scratches of dried meet to calm his stomach. He exited his resting place and started to walk the camp. He could see a sad tone over almost everyone. People had lost loved ones due to that stupid trap. Now that he thought of it, it had been pretty obvious. A special delivery for the prince! What else could have been; a giant signal in which it reads 'FREE MEAT'? Those years without getting caught had betrayed them in the end. They had got confident when they shouldn't have. The Prince was still in a large advantage. Caleb spent his free time walking the camp, trying to see if someone was still able to mile. There was no one.

The time passed fast, and then the meeting started. The one directing it was an elder, an old politician of the reign of Weira. Everyone in the meeting looked desperate and defeated, including him. Now they were even less than two hundred in total, counting women and the few children that were there.

Caleb knew what was coming; they were going to suggest disbanding the company. It looked logical but still… he still wanted his revenge against the Prince, he still wanted justice for the dead innocent. But… they have been nothing more than thieves playing to be an army. When everything started, everyone was hoping that this could have been the start of a rebellion, of a counterattack against the Prince… but with the pass of the years the people had started to feel accommodated with their new reality, some being happier with their new lives as thieves and outclasses than with the previous ones. Now that reality had hit hard at them, their little bubble had blown and exploded. And they were so despaired that they were going to surrender.

But a ray of hope shined into Caleb's life that day. Before the elder could say anything, a figure separated from the crowd and reached the politician, who recognizing who it was, let it to take central stage. Actually, everyone had recognized it. Even Caleb, albeit he had only saw her once so many years ago.

It was the Mage. Casted as always in her black, hooded robe, the aquamarine skinned bald woman spoke to the crowd, not hiding some disgust in her voice. "Many of you know who I am. I could say that almost everyone knows. For the ones that don't, I'm the Mage, and I was the advisor of the royal family of Meridian, until Phobos took the throne after killing his own family, the Queen and her consort. And now, after all these years, I came in search of you, and what do I find? People who are at one step of surrendering to that pathetic excuse of a Prince that this world has. Is it because you have lost people during these years? For what do you all think that they died? They died because they believed that Meridian should be a better place, ruled by someone who really understood how things must be done and that cared about the people."

Upon hearing this, many members of the crowd thought about the lost Princess. No one knew that, in reality, the woman was referring to herself in secret. Still, the speech continued.

"Are you going to left all of them behind? Are you all going to forget about them? You should fight back. Not with some ambushes directed to the weakest parts of Phobos' reign, but as an organized and disciplined army. As a true rebellion against the tyranny."

"Easier said than done" said a man from the crowd, who get a glare from the Mage after that remark. "Uh… I mean, how are we going to do that? We are roughly a quarter of a battalion here, and that's counting women and children. Phobos has thousands of men at his service; let's not speak about his abominations…"

The mage looked at the man for a few moments. "First of all, you should abandon that view about women" said the bald woman. "I'm a woman myself, and I have walked this world for centuries, always at the side of the royal family, which is lead by women each generation. And let's not forget about Kandrakar's chosen ones, who are also women. Second…" the Mage eyes travelled over the entire crowd "what if I tell you that you all could gather more allies? What if I tell you that you could raise an army in par with Phobos'; that the people of Meridian would gather around you and fight by your side?"

"I would ask how is that even possible" said then Caleb himself, separating from the crowd and standing before the Mage herself, eyeing the bald woman. "The people are content with the tyranny, they are either afraid to make a move or stupid enough to think that they live better under the Usurper. So, how do you pretend to gather allies?"

The Mage eyed the little boy. A little smile formed in her lips, who Caleb didn't now how to interpret. "It's not how _I_ am going to do it; but how _you_ are going to do it. It's all a matter of giving the people something very simple… Give them a reason to hate the Prince as much as all of you do. And then, give them something to clench to, something to believe in. That's how you will do it."

The Mage ended her speech with that sentence. The crowd felt silent. True, there was a difference between them and the rest of Meridian. Their reasons for hating the Prince were more personal than anything else. The lost of their titles, houses, families… Phobos had taken all from them, craving the collective hatred in their hearths.

"How?" said then a woman. "How do we do that?"

The Mage eyed Caleb and, albeit directing herself directly to the boy, her words were for all the people gathered there. "Sometimes, you have to do something bad in a small level to get something good in a bigger one" she let those words sank into the boy's mind. "So tell me, boy. Tell me, sons and daughters of Meridian; tell me if you are able to take the necessary step in order to safe your world, in order to regain what had been stolen from you; in order to beat the evil that . Tell me, are you able?"

Caleb pondered for a moment, before looking to the bald woman again. "Yes, I'm able" answered the child. Then the answers of his peers followed his. The answers of Vathek, Gorlois and his long time friend Aldarn; each one of them determinate to do whatever it took, the scars that Phobos' regime left in their souls too deep to be forgotten. The hunger of the young ones, the cries of the adults over the bodies of their beloved ones… It couldn't be forgotten.

The despair left path to anger; the anger to the hate. The Mage rose as tall as she was, his eyes changing color to a green similar to the one that colored Caleb's eyes. Truly, desperate people were the most easy to manipulate. It had been a good idea to wait in the shadows until these men and women broke down. It had cost her lover's life, thought. Now even she had something to hate Phobos for. This desperate and hateful men and women; and her beloved son… they will be the stones she will use to built her stairs to her destined throne. And then, the people of this universe finally would be happy and true peace would reign.

Knowing that these people were ready to do everything that it took in order to beat, Phobos, the Mage looked at them, regaining his usual eye color. "then, if you really are prepared to take that step…" the Mage moved one hand and a series of things appeared by the use of her magic. They splattered across the ground, just in front of the people's feet. They recognized what they were; helmets, armors, plates, weapons, shields; all of them property of the Guard and recognizable as such to almost everyone. The people started to pick them up, Caleb picking an sword that reminded him of the one that he father used to have; the escapees fading away and letting the first and original members of the Rebellion to took their places. "Have you ever heard of Sonder Hill?"

* * *

 ** _Back on the present day. The times of Queen Elyon._**

"Caleb?" asked Blunk to his friend, who had stopped before the door of the Queen's private chambers. He had been there, standing firmly, by various minutes without moving a single muscle; lost in his memories. They weren't good ones; the memories of a child in the battlefield; for they were cruel and depressing. What they did in Sonder Hill in order to gain support for the Rebellion against Phobos haunted him even today. And now he knew who really the person that had encouraged that decision was.

"My mother…" said Caleb, more to himself than to anyone else.

"What?" asked the green dwarf to the young man.

"The one that taught me that sentence, that ideology, about having to sacrifice a little thing in order to build something better… It was my mother. Well, I didn't know it was my mother at that time, but… it was my mother." Caleb looked at the door in front of him and smiled sadly. "The same woman that took a bunch of desperate survivors and transformed them into the Rebels… and manipulated and kidnapped the girl behind this door." Caleb shook his head. "And that still had the guts to tell me that she loved me, and cared for me… And I still don't know if it was true or not."

Caleb made a pause, and this time he looked completely serious. "I always wanted to be a light in the dark for the people, something they could rely upon; but now I reflect in my actions and I find out… that my light burned as much as it warmed. That maybe I'm not that different from my mother, or from Phobos himself… I want to protect the few good things that this world still has, but… I'm really doing it? Take this entire situation with Cedric, for example. I do really want to do justice in my friend's name, or is just a petty vengeance against the snake-man? I don't really know… look at what I did to that man, and look at how I justified it. I know that it isn't right, but still… but still… Aldarn was the first friend that I had, the best one. The one who always stood beside me, that always supported my decisions. He was practically my brother… and I can't stop hating that reptile for doing that to him!" the voice of the young man raised, and then dropped and become silence. Caleb lowered his head and let his forehead to hit the door of the Queen's chamber. Silence took hold of the whole hall, cleb looking at the floor without knowing what to do.

"But Caleb is Caleb" said then the Passling. Caleb looked at him, making his head to tilt in the process. "Blunk doesn't believe that Caleb is like his momma or the mean Prince. Caleb is Caleb, because now he is talking those words to Blunk." The Passling smiled widely, making the young man to look surprised. "Caleb had done bad things… but everyone had to do them sometimes. The important part is that Caleb knows that they were bad things, and doesn't want to do them again. That's the difference between him and his momma. Caleb's momma didn't understand. That's why Caleb is Caleb; he is Blunk friend, as he was Aldarn's. And it's normal for Caleb to want revenge for his friend. Blunk would want to take revenge for him if Caleb was hurt."

Caleb looked dumbfounded at the Passling. He never thought of Blunk capable of such discourses and such encouraging words. Even after all the help he had given to the Rebels, he still thought sometimes of Blunk as someone ditzy… but yet again, life had surprised him in such manners, both good and bad, and this one had to be a good one.

"Thank you, Blunk" said the young man, raising his head from the front of the door. "I really needed that. Can you make me a favor, though?" the Passling nodded. "Good, please go find the man we… interrogated and his companions. Tell them that they will be given compensation and that their leader will be treated in the castle's infirmary. And Blunk" Caleb said to the green `dwarf before he disappeared "if you are able to talk to him in private, tell the man that… I'm sorry, even if I know that that wouldn't be enough to gain his pardon." The Passling agreed and walked in the dungeons' direction. Caleb hoped that it'll be enough to make amends with the merchants. He had let his anger to get the best of him.

Dismissing those thoughts, the young commander knocked at the door. The voice of the Queen came from inside, in a neutral and cold tone, as it was becoming usual. "Come in, the door is unlocked."

Caleb entered the chamber, and saw a sight that he was getting accustomed to too fast for his licking. Elyon sat behind her desk, a legion of papers over it, Irvine at her right, not moving a muscle until the Queen demanded it. A quill pen with the tip wet in black ink in her hand, moving so fast that if someone met her for the first time; could swear that Elyon had been working in an office for her entire life. Noticing who had entered, the Queen rose from her seat, letting the quill pen to continue writting automatically due to a simple and easy spell. "Ah, Caleb. Do you have something to report to me referring to Cedric's whereabouts?"

Caleb tensed his body. "Yes, your highness. Apparently, Miranda has been located around the Mirmirine fields near the city of Carhaiz. If our informant is to be believed, Miranda (and by extension Cedric) would be hiding in a small village not very far from the city. I request permission to move the Elite Squad and purchase an investigation of the place in question."

Elyon pondered a little after Caleb's words. "Carhaiz is my next destination in order to inaugurate a new building… Do you suspect of Cedric trying to attempt something against me?" asked the Queen.

"I hardly doubt it. Even with his new abilities, he must know that he is no match to you. I suppose that's the reason behind him lying low. Still, it will be recommendable to bring more guards with you this time, your highness."

"Good advice" Elyon put her hand in her chin, meditating about her options. "I will give you permission to use your Elite Squad. You would investigate that village while I'm in the inauguration at Carhaiz. That way, if Cedric makes a move I would be near in order to assist you. I doubt that he would be able to fight me back. Communicate this to the ones you are going to bring with you; that's all."

Caleb bowed his head in respect. "Of course, her majesty." Before leaving, Caleb felt curious. "If I may ask… The building in Carhaiz… is it going to be a new factory?" asked the young man. Much to his surprise, Elyon's face lighted up and a sincere and enthusiastic smile appeared in her face. "Oh no" said the Queen into a cheering tone not heard in the palace since months ago. "It's a Military Academy, of course. We can't afford the incoming amount of new cadets only with the barracks at the feet of the castle."

"Why is that?" asked Caleb. Due to the civil war and the Rebellion, very few people desired to join the ranks of the militia.

"Isn't it obvious? It's because of you." said Elyon with a playful smile in her face. "They envy you; they want to be like you. You all are their heroes; freedom fighters who opposed my brother's tyranny and battle his darkness ad lies with truth and justice. I judge very normal an increase in our ranks after that display. Isn't their behavior invigorating?"

Caleb looked at the Queen's smile, for a few moments the only sound resonating in the room the scratching of the quill pen against the paper. "Yes, it is" answered finally Caleb. "Thank you for answering, your majesty; I should leave now and start arranging for our moving to Carhaiz."

"Then go and do so, Captain Caleb." Said Elyon, and the young man exited her chambers. Caleb looked at his hand an clenched his fist. They called him hero, eh? " _I never was a hero_ " thought the young man to himself. " _But this is a time as good as any other to start being one_ " and with that sentence, the young commander get through the castle's lonely halls, with a renovate spirit inside of him, decided to, this time, do things right. To really be something the people can rely upon.

At the other side of the door, Elyon's smile had intensified. But now it looked more like a maniacal and mischievous smile than anything else. "Irvine" said the Queen to her maid.

"Yes, my Queen?" retorted back the woman, devotion sparkling in her eyes.

Elyon went to a closet near the left wall of the chamber and pulled a cloak out of it. The Queen put the cloak on and put the hood over her head, almost hiding completely her face. With a movement of her hand, crown, regal jewels and almost every symbol that marked her as royalty disappeared, her usual braids transforming into a long mane of pale blond hair. She looked like a totally different person. "Take care of all the paperwork that it's left if it isn't an annoyance; I need to… take a walk."

"Of course my Queen. If I may dare to ask her highness, where are you going?" said the maid, taking Elyon's seat behind the desk, a little too much happy that she could sit where her Queen had sat upon.

"Oh, nowhere special…" said Elyon while preparing to teleport. "Just to visit a pair of old friends."

* * *

 ** _The city of Carhaiz._**

Carhaiz was one of the cities that had got out less affected by the civil war. This was due to its… unique characteristics. Not a place of production like Kelliwick, or a place of thought and peace like the churches of the north of the Kingdom; the city had survived due to its own mediocrity.

And of course, the Red Light District. The imposing, classic built houses, each one of them ornamented in a different manner, and always lighted by a bunch of red candles that produced red flames and that made the windows and interior of each one the buildings look like a matured and tentative fruit.

Inside of them awaited a legion of women and men that went from voluptuous and beefy; to flat and skinny. A collection of every savor, put there for Meridian's amusement. Noble or commoner; woman or man, old or young, rebel or guard… every one put their feet inside, a mask over her faces that instead let their real nature to come to the surface while enjoying in the most decadent games that their imagination and flesh were capable off. It was thanks to the Red Light District that Carhaiz had survived so long. Not even the most corrupted or pure of the regimes wanted to dispend of it. There were even rumors that said that, the reason behind Queen Allora never taking as consort the man that had impregnated her, was because Queen Weira was conceived in one of the hot and wet rooms; over one of the overused and dirtied beds. You could even find among the young girls the only ones in Meridian that cried over Phobos' defeat.

Because of those red lights, the city continued… the shadow casted by Meridian's own light. That was why the owners of the housed looked both wary and eager to the new building that rose in the center of the town; the Military Academia that was waiting only for the Queen to open its doors.

Wary because the Queen hadn't (still) proved a big fan of the Red Light District, and the owners were a little frightened of what she could do if she proved to be… puritan. And eager because… well, what kind of owner of a house of pleasure couldn't be eager to have a legion of youngster training all day, sweating, stressing, being frustrated all day; just in front of their businesses' doors? Those youngsters, with the head still to empty and the inside of their underwear too anxious and restless; and their pockets full of fresh money… How could they resist the beautiful red light that shined from the windows? Or how could they resist the marvelous tensed bodies of the fine men? Or the full developed bodies of the women, casted in such uniforms that it looked that their breasts were going to jump from their outfit and say 'hello' to you?

The shapeshifter Cedric was of the ones more akin to the second thought. Didn't the Queen thought about that outcome? Or maybe she was hoping for it to happen? Cedric's animal instincts were telling him that something didn't seem completely well with that building; even more since he had started to absorb more and more energy. There was something casting a disturbing feeling over Meridian, he could smell it in the air. And it was strong in the shadow that the damn construct casted over Carhaiz. It was a feeling so similar to… to… to that think that accompanied Tracker in the Infinite City. But how was it possible? How could be a connection? Cedric had always been an intelligent man, always thinking two steps ahead. Even if something surprised him, he could adapt and take advantage of the situation. His mind trailing back to that macabre spectacle he had witnessed from his cell… and Tracker's taunt at Raythor, that he was sure no one else could have heard aside from the soldier if not for the reinforce hearing he had due to his species natural abilities. " _The Court is full of traitors_ " had said the undead. Cedric's instinct met with his sharp mind, and the answer came to him. Still, it looked impossible, unbelievable. Could it be, that Elyon herself…?

"Cedric, look!" a cheerful voice took him out of his thoughts. He looked back and saw Miranda, flanked by an auburn haired woman who smiled and nodded prideful, arms folded over her generous chest. His beloved was now dressed in a pale blue dress that matched her eyes, looking more natural and more 'free' than with her former attire. Miranda give a few jumps in the air, circling over her, letting the dress to move and show how well it bended to her body. Cedric could see how Miranda's body was starting o develop little by little… well, not that he didn't saw it himself a few nights ago. She looked more radiant since that night. "Do you like it?" asked the young girl.

Cedric smiled to her, his hearth warmed like every time he saw Miranda happy. "Of course I love it. I would love anything you were wearing or doing." Miranda smiled and sprouted a cheerful and cute sound with her throat. Like a laugh that cannot be fully being a laugh because the joy turns it into some sort of scream.

The woman beside Miranda put one hand on her hips and the other over the girl's shoulders. "See? Told you he would like it; little one. That dress is perfect for you. Wait! I know, I know! I will give you a pair of shoes that go splendid with that dress! Come this way!"

The two women then walked off. It was good to see Miranda spent some time with people without having her hide her real nature from them. Almost everyone in that specific whorehouse knew that they were shapeshifters. They had known Cedric for a lot of years, due to him using this building as home and base of operations in his old days as an assassin. Thanks to his extended lifespan, he had met various generations of workers of the pleasure. And he had been always in good terms with the owner of the establishment, a shapeshifter himself, albeit he didn't want the information to run to the public's ears. It would be bad for his pocket.

Moving to one window that led to the house's backyard, he saw Miranda and her new… friend? Company? Maybe distraction? Well they were walking and laughing. If Miranda was happy, he was happy too. He remembered exactly how he had met her for the first time; back in that house over the flower fields… after Kay's death. Kay, his companion and trusted friend, the man nicknamed in the assassin circles as the Great Scorpion. He had hide the existence of his wife and daughter even for Cedric; but not that he blamed him for it. And when he was in the verge of dead, his body crippled by the goons of Queen Weira, he called their names and told Cedric to protect them. An the first time he saw Miranda, in her side form, tears running down her eyes while ripping apart the bodies of the men of the Queen… He felt something jump in his heart. Apparently, those bastards had took ahead of him and get to the woman his friend had loved… and killed her. Kay always wanted to let his wife out of his affairs, but no, Weira hated shapeshifters so much that everyone that related themselves to them must pay as hard as them. Cedric doubted that she had executed Kay for his crimes as an assassin and more for the specie he belonged too. He caught Miranda in her spider form and, assuming himself his snakelike form, he dashed towards the little girl and embraced her, trying to dispel the pain.

And in that place, surrounded by corpse with their entrails painting the flowers, where nothing pure shouldn't be able to shine, the two monsters found each other, a little light in the dark. And for her, it didn't matter what it takes. Obeying the Prince and carrying out his will at all cost; luring an innocent girl to her doom; killing everyone in the way, betraying said Prince, trying to set the whole universe on fire! For her everything is little.

"Cedric" called him another voice, this one masculine, and quite familiar. Ah, speaking of the owner of the whorehouse. A man as tall as Cedric stood now before him. His hair was short and grayish, a thin moustache and a little billy-goat beard of the same color adorning his face. Always dressed in a plain robe of a dark color, his eyes let see ambition and the thirst for control in them. A red account book always in his hands, and a finger missing from one of them, the name of the man was Lot; the owner of the (as he liked to point out) best house of pleasure of the whole Red Light District. "You have a visitor."

Cedric scratched his head and put his new shirt in a better manner. He had ditched away his old clothes. There weren't too indiscreet for his new life. So he had started to wear a plain pair pants and a shirt, his hair let down freely. He looked rather good in that outfit. It was more stimulating to the eye than his old clothes. "And who is this visitor. I don't have to remind you that I'm not going to start to work here for you, so if it's someone that have caught a glimpse of my body and wants…"

"Cedric, it's nothing like that." Lot's eyes showed a little glimpse of fear. Putting a hand on Cedric's shoulder, he both encouraged and threatened him. "I took you in due to our past accords and professional relationship; but the moment that I see that you're not a benefit to me or that you are a danger to me or my employees…" Lot's hand twisted and started to spread black fur over it, becoming a wolf claw. "I will make sure personally that you and your little girl end in the dungeons again"

Cedric's eyes flashed with Quintessence and his tongue become the one of a reptile. "Are you sure that you want to threaten my, old friend?" the pair stood like that for a minute; reptile and mammal. In the end, Cedric deemed that, whoever wanted to meet him, if he or she was able to scare Lot in order to make him to want to battle a man much stronger than him… it was worth a try. It could proof useful and beneficial. And if not… he could kill he visitor and not leave trace. He hadn't consumed vital energy since… well, since he left that village where Miranda's mother used to buy completely dried.

Cedric reassumed his complete human form. "Where is the visitor?" asked the snake-man.

"Waiting in the room I gave Miranda and you." Lot started to walk away, but looked back in a moment. "Be careful."

"Me? Always" answered Cedric, heading for the room the merchant of flesh and pleasure had given to him and Miranda. They had planned to life in Miranda's old house, but… after selling all those objects to those merchants, he knew that it couldn't be too late before the guards tracked them down to that village and decided to attack them, with that Rebel leader (which name he actually didn't remember, was it Corbin or something?) first in line. Well, jokes on them, he had left a little surprise in the village for the ones who dared go search for them there. He could almost see their faces…

He reached the entrance of his room. Generating a little bolt of Quintessence in his hand and hiding it behind his back, he entered it. It was actually a plain room. The more elaborated ones and in which furniture and decoration the money was spent were designated to the customers' enjoyment, so the ones designated for living were just normal. A bed for him and Miranda lied in the floor next to a window, just in front of the door. A little bookshelf rested at the bed's right, lying against the wall; and next to it, a little table with two chairs designated to held meals and readings.

And sitting at the table, was no one else than Elyon Escanor; reading one of his books. Dressed in a dark cloak, and with her hair let free, the Queen of Merdian passed the sheets of the book with quite the amazed expression. She surely was enjoying her read. Noticing Cedric's arrival, the Queen closed the book and let it over the table. "Quite the interesting read. Hello Cedric, how is Miranda?"

Rather than answer, Cedric unleashed the bolt he had conjured earlier and attacked the Queen. Elyon raised an eyebrow, just watching the attack to come at her. "Really?" was the only thing she said, just before the attack hit an invisible barrier and shattered into nothingness. "My turn" said then the Queen. Cedric felt a force striking his body, and next he found himself smashing against the wall. Then Elyon moved her eyes upwards and Cedric clashed with the ceiling. Then the Queen just stopped and the shapeshifter hit the floor.

Cedric looked up and saw Elyon looking down at him. "Come on Cedric, you should know how pointless that was against me. I'm a Hearth; I'm far out of your league, besides…" Elyon's pupils grew and started to cover her irises, and finally her whole eyes, which become a ball of complete blackness. " ** _I'm much more than that now_** " her voice sounded distorted; hers was still the dominant one, but behind it Cedric could hear and distinguish another four voices, speaking in unison with her. One thing was clear, that wasn't the Elyon he was accustomed to. And it scared him more than anything else he had faced in his entire life. The sensation she irradiated…

The man stood up, and looked how Elyon's eyes returned to their usual form. She cracked her neck. "Uf, I don't usually use that state so easily, you know? It can be really tiring to repress it back in order to look normal again" said the Queen. "So, you haven't answered. How's Miranda?"

Cedric took off from his clothes a little amount of dust. "She is being well; thank you for asking. How have you found us?"

Elyon chuckled. "Because I have eyes and ears, Cedric. And my eyes and my ears have eyes and ears too! You think that you leave my gaze just because you escaped from the Infinity City? How ridiculous, I see everything in this world. You should know by now, that if I didn't allow it, you couldn't have those new powers, and Miranda and you will still be behind bars."

Cedric looked at the Queen. The child he had taken from Earth looked long time gone. Besides him stood something mysterious; much more than a simple Queen or the Hearth of Meridian. It was terrifying. "So it really was you. You were the one who led Tracker into the City… Why tell me?"

"Why do you think?" asked back the Queen.

Cedric stared to her for a while. There were many reasons. A normal person would think of Elyon wanting to kill him not only because he was a criminal, but because what he did to her. But Cedric knew better. It wasn't the first time that an Escanor had come to that building in order to talk with him. "You want me to work for you?" asked the snake-man, quite surprised.

Elyon looked a little disgusted by that remark, her smile fading, and her tone hardening. "No, Cedric. I know that you are not one who works for others; my brother's fate is enough proof of that. I'm offering you to work not _for me_ , but _with me_ ; both you and Miranda. I know what you have been doing all this time, collecting more energy by drying up the lives of the people that hurt you and her… But I ask you, then what? What will you two do when everyone lies at your feet and there is no one else around? Is that the kind of place you want to give her? Is that the kind of place you want your children to grow up?"

"You are trying to manipulate me," said the snake-man to the young royal, recognizing an art he had practiced for his entire life "playing into my weaknesses, making me believe that the best outcome for my beloved and I is to side with you."

Elyon clapped her hands, as if she liked the fact that Cedric knew what was she doing. "First, it is the best outcome, Cedric. Second, you wouldn't be saying that if it wasn't working." And, in truth, it really was working. The words of the Queen sank down in Cedric's mind, causing the seed of doubt to germinate inside him. What Cedric didn't really know was why it was working. Albeit he believed that it was the power of the arguments of the Queen (which themselves weren't so far from a truth that Cedric knew real; he really didn't know how to continue after his revenge); it was actually something much more disturbing. Because in the very same moment she gave that powers to Cedric; Elyon planted a little suggestion, not an order, a suggestion; inside the shapeshifter's head; a suggestion that made him more suggestible to her influence, more willing to see things _her_ way. After all, Cedric was a valuable ally, but she couldn't risk for him to betray her. So, instead of forcing him, why don't let the man hel in his own accord?

"For what end do you want to work with us?" asked Cedric to Elyon.

The Queen smiled, seeing how her interlocutor was slowly but relentlessly taking interest. "To create an Eden"

Cedric was quite familiar with the word 'Eden'; he had studied human culture before going there. "What kind of Eden?" asked the blond man.

"An Eden for you, for Miranda, for me and for everyone that is like us" the Queen gestured to the overture over the bed. "Please, look out the window, what do you see?"

Cedric did as told and looked at the streets of Carhaiz. "People in the streets."

Elyon put herself at his side. "Do you want to know what _I_ see?" she started to signal various men and women. "A family head who cheats in his wife because she doesn't satisfy him anymore, and he is incapable of telling her. A minister of my own Court who loves to chase pretty little boys in his room. A woman that goes to the church and that likes to remember everyone around her how morally superior she is to everyone else; but that also loves to have her body impaled from both holes of her body by vigorous and dominating men."

Cedric looked at Elyon, even more surprised after that speech. "I told you that I see everything" she started to move to the center of the room. "I'm tired, Cedric. I'm tired of the people hiding behind masks of nobility and purity when, deep down, everyone _is_ darkness in the end. I'm tired of people unable to recognize the true nature of their soul and accept it. Aren't you the same? Couldn't you have been much happier if you could have said to everyone how much do you care about Miranda? Or walk the streets in your real form? Shouldn't she have been much happier if she had been able to walk to your chambers at night instead of living cold and alone in her own lonely bed because it was 'indecent'?"

Cedric assimilated those words, and thinking back to the first time he had seen Miranda, he made his decision. "What must I do?"

"I need the people of Meridian to feel both despair and joy. I will handle the joy; I need you to handle the despair. So, keep doing what you have doing until down. Kill everyone in your path; love your girlfriend, read your books. The one by John Milton is one of my favorites too. And don't worry to take much effort and overwork yourself. Tracker is also handling the despair part of the design, and I don't like to threat my people as my brother did." The Queen then prepared herself to leave the room by teleporting, but Cedric stopped her with a Question.

"Speaking of whom, what about your brother?" asked the snake-man.

Elyon doubted a little if she should answer. Why not? He couldn't do anything. "I have put my brother up to trial; if he is able to success, he will be the Prince he always was meant to be. If don't, well, I doubt that someone will really miss him… aside from some of the women and their children from here…" And with that, she teleported and let Cedric alone.

It didn't pass too long before Miranda entered the room again; this time with a pair of new shoes that made pair with her dress. She found Cedric putting the book that Elyon had been reading back in its rightful place. Seeing the expression in her lover's face, she approached him and put a hand in his back. "Is everything all right?"

Cedric looked at Miranda. The pillar of his life, his entire world that made the power of two Hearths he once wielded look like rubble compared to a diamond. Putting his arms around Miranda and embracing her, he kissed her forehead. "Better than ever"

"Really?" asked the girl, the most genuine concern in her face letting pass to the most playful of smiles. "Well, in that case… I want to show you something that I learnt today" and taking Cedric by his hands, she guided him to their bed. Making him sit down, she started to pull his pants off. "Miranda, what are you…?"

"You made me feel good the other night" said the girl, taking Cedric's manhood in her hands and caressing it in such a manner that it made it grow hard. The she started to move her hands around it, getting her mouth nearer and nearer to it. Sticking out her tongue, Miranda started to lick it. "Now _I_ want to make _you_ feel good" and swallowed Cedric's penis.

The snake-man moaned. Miranda giggled a little, but the sound was mixed with the slurping and licking sounds. Cedric looked at her, not able to hide the pleasure he was feeling. "How do you know…?"

Miranda took out the penis out of her mouth, a little string of spittle still connecting both. She continued to massage the hard member, while smiling quite devilishly to her beloved. "You have your books… And Lot has his…"

Cedric rolled his eyes. "I'm going to kill that damn dog someday…"

"Oh, are you sure that you shouldn't be grateful for this moment?" said Miranda, putting Cedric's dick in her mouth again, this time swallowing so hard that he couldn't, much to Miranda's joy, suppress a moan.

They continued like that for a time, Cedric's mind focused in how much Miranda's meant to him; completely forgetting about Elyon, their deal, the people he wanted to hurt and kill, and over everything else, about Phobos.

* * *

 ** _The dungeons of the Infinite City_**

In the lonely and almost empty dungeons of the Infinity City; now cleared of the corpses resulted from the raid that Tracker and that beast had inflected upon it, something could be heard. It sounded like a cracking noise, like and engine that it hasn't been oiled properly and that rattles. It was the sound of a puzzle box trying to be solved by the hands of Phobos Escanor.

Since the moment his sister had placed that artifact in his hands, he had grown quite obsessed with solving it. He barely slept or ate (not that the food provided in prison would be a missed), incapable of moving from the chair his sister had left him, his hands moving quicker and quicker with every minute that passed… trying to solve the box. In that very moment, the deposed tyrant finally heard a sound from the device.

Stopping the movement of the tips of his arms, Phobos looked in awe how a part of the box rose from its main body. " _Finally_ " thought the Prince, looking how the part that just separated from the main body rotated. Phobos put a hand over the piece, and pressed it to make it become part of the main body again, making it completely different. Phobos looked proudly at it. It had been nothing more than a children's game, but it had been good for killing time. And then there was that strange magical sensation that emanated from the box… and that felt like magic but something completely different at the same time. Phobos calmed down and planned to return to his cell and slept a little… when said no-magic intensified. The box started to glow with a variant of various colors. How was it possible? It was just a puzzle box, just a children game… wasn't it? The glow intensified and Phobos went enveloped by it…

The box was opened, and with it, a door that led to a void without any stair. And Phobos, of the Escanor bloodline fell directly through it.

* * *

 ** _Unknown location_**

Phobos fell. Fell and fell without end, in an endless black void that itself lacked any end. The Prince didn't know what was happening or where he was. He only remembered the puzzle box.

Falling through the endless void… Was it so much of a bad idea? If this was his sister's idea of a final punishment for him, it was a very compassionate one. Falling forever instead of being caged forever… It wasn't that bad. Was this the sensation Raythor felt when he was falling through the Abyss of Shadows? It must have been…

Phobos closed his eyes and left the darkness to engulf him. Why did he felt so… sluggish all of a sudden? No, the word wasn't sluggish, it was slothful… even despaired. It wasn't that bad of an idea… sleep without the noises made by his cellmates… or without the fear of an assassin entering the castle and killing him anytime. Yes, sleep…

Phobos awoke, not knowing for how much time he had sleep. Surprisingly, he didn't found himself falling anymore. He was now lying into a floor of cold stone. Getting to his feet, he looked around… and his head almost couldn't cope with what he saw. There were buildings… he himself was in the top of one of them… but they were completely twisted, their stairs and halls exiting the main body of the construct, and going up, down, left and right; connecting them… They looked as if a mad child had been the designer.

And lurking over the structures… there was something. Phobos couldn't reach to see what they exactly were… but saying that they were a legion would be a euphemism. And they were enormous, so big that they dwarfed even the Gargoyles of Meridian. And, for some reason, they were making music. At first it was just a simple humming, calm and constant, as if waiting for something. Then came the song; and the humming let place to a powerful set of strident trumpets, which made the ground tremble.

Sang by four powerful voices, the song was both peaceful and violent, chaotically organized, and so strong that Phobos fell to the ground, hands in his ears, the strength of the sound and the pain that produced making his body agonize.

Albeit the music continued, the trumpets playing now a melody that reminded Phobos of a mocking parody of the ones that his servants played when he walked towards the throne room; the song stopped, allowing Phobos to free his ears. He repented that act the time that he heard the voices.

" **The Box; you opened it** " said a metallic voice that sounded like an eruption of a full line of volcanoes, like the explosion of a bomb so powerful that it could destroy a world.

" **And so, you came here** " now it was a female voice, with the most seductive and lustful of the tones; that sounded like an incredible sweet honey… so sweet that in fact it could drive your brain crazy.

" **And we came too! For you!** " it was now the turn of a male high-pitched voice, that sounded so egotistic that made the voices of the most greedy of bankers sound like one of a saint.

" **And so, we finally met, Phobos Escanor, of the blood of the one that the Fourth One once was** " the final voice sounded like the one of an infant, but at the same time old, terribly old… and unnatural, deprived of joy or will, like the silent Grim Reaper, that advances slowly but without pause.

Phobos was speechless. In what kind of hell did his sister put him into? "Who… what are you?!" shouted the Prince, terrified for the first time in his life, demanding answers.

" ** _We are who we are. Demons to the ones that walk under the Light, Gods to the ones that lurk in the Abyss. We are the four that reign over the metaphysical and the occult._** " said the four voices in unison.

" **But that's not the question here, lonely child** " continued the female voice.

" **It was you who opened the Box, and so you have been branded as a potential Hierophant** " the metallic voice again, sounding angry at the fact that Phobos had directed himself to them so naturally and without respect.

" **And for being a Hierophant you must ask yourself, who I really am? How I came to this point?** " the childlike monstrous voice.

" **And for that, we must travel! Travel to the past in order to discern the reasons behind your present and the motivations that lead to your future!** " said the high-pitched voice, and Phobos saw his surrounding to change and transform.

Now he was in a street full of cheering people. He recognized the street… it was the principal one of the capital of Meridian. " **Look, look! Someone is approaching!** "

Phobos looked in the same direction that everyone in the crowd was looking. And he saw… himself? Truly, it was him as a child; mounting in a regal carriage for his presentation to the public at the age of ten (as tradition demanded), so many years ago… with his parents, Queen Weira and her consort, Lord Zedd. He saw his young counterpart smile at his mother lovely, and Phobos couldn't avoid feeling a little bit of nostalgia upon that. " _Mother_ …"

" **What a happy and exemplary royal family! An honorable husband, a responsible and lovable mother and Queen! A good and innocent Prince! Truly an example for the common man of the street…** " continued the high-pitched voice, the only one speaking right now. " **Only if you look from the outside, that's it. But we know better, don't we Phobos? I bet that if you could freeze time in the moment your mother gained that smile from you, you could do it, even if it meant to not advance anymore. Now, let's take a look… from the inside!** "

And like that, the procession (or more accurately, its image) disappeared in a mass of smoke, and the scenery around him changed again. And Phobos found himself in the interiors of the castle, that very same day, after the parade. And he saw himself again, this time in his feet; the little Prince Phobos, no taller than an indoor plant. And the older Phobos looked at his younger self, forced to do something that he detested. He was forced, upon seeing his young image, to remember.

" **Ah yes, memories of childhood can be so cruel sometimes…** " continued the high-pitched voice. " **The moment the parade ended, the charade fell too. And you found yourself, just like so many times that counting them will be pointless, alone, alone in the baste dark halls of the castle… your mother too busy with the Court, and your father… well you sure know by now, don't you?** "

Yes, Phobos knew, after all those years… that Zedd meant no harm, but he still didn't care in the slightest. Not for him, not for Weira. It wasn't surprising, although .People like Zedd, consorts of the Queens, could be just of two types. Men who truly loved their wives and really wanted to be with them out of devotion and love; or men designated to the task of helping to continue the royal bloodline by lying with the Queens. Zedd belonged to the second group. It wasn't expected for him to care about… Even if it hurt little Phobos, grown up Phobos couldn't blame his father for not caring for a life that he just saw as a work.

Phobos hated remembering this. He looked at his younger self and he saw everything that he never wanted to be now. Weak, hurt, sad… but content with it all, like a prisoner that has accepted that his fate is the gallows, and walks to his death with a sad smile and saying 'It's not that bad'. Pathetic, a human, much more an Escanor, must be defiant and prideful. This ridiculous version of himself… Phobos could barely repress the urge to punch his little counterpart in the face.

" **What a lonely child… no father, no family, his mother only being able to be with him in official meetings and when she sneaked into his room when he were asleep and gave him a goodnight kiss.** " Phobos looked down upon this. If there was someone that he didn't like to think about, that was his mother. Not after what he did… " **But wait!** " said the high-pitched voice again. " **Does the little Prince have friends? Yes, yes he does! Look, here comes your friend!** "

And from the corridor, the sound of running steps came. Little Phobos waited patiently, until the steps sounded just behind his back. Then, someone putted a pair of hands over his eyes, and said in an utterly playful and friendly tone. "Guess who?"

Little Phobos smiled, but the face of older Phobos was a mix between surprise and terror. The voice that had asked that question to the little Prince belonged to an auburn haired boy just a little younger than little Phobos himself. Dressed n a white robe that marked him as one of the servants of the castle, it was the same boy that was leading the servants in the parade.

"Galahad!" exclaimed with joy little Phobos.

"Galahad…" whispered the older one.

" **Galahad, Galahad…** " continued the high-pitched voice while little Phobos turned around and started to talk and laugh with the other child. " **He was your only friend, right? The only one you could trust! The only one you could care about, because he was the only one that really cared about you! And you must remember that, in this very day, it was that caring that lead to his end!** "

"Hey, do you want to see something incredible?" asked Galahad to little Phobos.

"I really shouldn't… Mother had said that I had to wait until her meeting with the ministers ends…" said the little Prince.

"Oh, come on Phobos, it's not going to be something dangerous!" encouraged Galahad. "I just want to show you something. Let's go to the gardens, I promise not to tell the Queen, so…?"

Little Phobos hesitated for a moment, but he wasn't able to say 'no' to Galahad's brilliant eyes. "Well, I will go, but it must be a secret: No one must know."

"Yay! Come on, come on! Mine is a secret too, one that I'll only share with you!" said the auburn haired boy, taking Phobos' hand and starting to pull him to the gardens.

Older Phobos tried to put himself in their way, stop what they were going to do, but it was useless. The pair of children passed through him like he was a ghost. " **Of course, this is nothing but a memory** " continued the high-pitched voice. " **Nothing but a record of the past… And so, you cannot change it. No! For is it impossible for a human to change what it is already done!** "

And the scenery changed again; and now older Phobos was standing into a balcony of the castle that provided with a sight to the gardens. From the balcony, older Phobos saw his younger self and his old friend… just about to make the decision that changed their lives forever.

Older Phobos looked at the pair, playing and falling in the flowers of the garden. A nostalgic smile appearing in his lips, even if he knew what was to come. He saw, not moving a muscle, how Galahad let electricity run through his body, and how his arms started to shift into wings, his head into the one of a bird, is mouth into a peak, and his feet into talons.

In front of young Phobos was now a giant majestic auburn pigeon. The little Prince looked at it amazed. "So?" asked Galahad, his voice sounding just a little different from the one he used in his human form. "What do you think? How do I look?"

Little Phobos had nothing else to express, except for a single word. "Beautiful"

The giant pigeon laughed, and so did Phobos; the power of a brilliant friendship that burned away the troubles and loneliness of the Prince's soul. But, like earlier said, Meridian seems to be a cruel world.

" **Yes, it's true. You trusted him, you loved him, and so, you promised not to tell anyone of his secret. You knew of your mother's hatred for the Chimera, so you disobeyed her for the first time in your life… out of love and friendship… Now, would you kindly turn to your left?** "

Older Phobos did as said and noted that someone was at his side. He recognized the figure. He had hated it one of the most, having seen her ruin much of his plans during the civil war. She was cloaked into her usual black cloak and hood. "The Mage…" whispered Phobos.

" **Wrong! Try again!** " said the high-pitched voice; making Phobos realize who the woman really was when a mischievous smirk appeared in her face; product of the scene she had witnessed in the garden.

Phobos scowled with hatred. " _Crossnic_ " said the deposed Prince with the most hateful of tones.

The high-pitched voice emitted a sound that, to Phobos, sounded a lot like a chuckle. " **I always found it funny, humans are the most weak sentient species out there; such sort lifespan, born without magic… and yet, just a spiteful and pathetic woman! Not good enough to even be a tool of Kandrakar! That was the only necessary thing in order to bring this world down!** "

Te scenery changed again, and now it showed little Phobos, walking down the stairs that lead to the dungeons of the castle, by his mother's hand, no less. The Queen went to him and brought him out of his boredom by forcing him to come with her. At first, little Phobos was overjoyed for passing time with his mother, but then he saw her expression. It was harsh and cold, almost like she was a totally different person that her usual self.

"Faster, my son" said the Queen pulling stronger from Phobos, almost making the little Prince to fell.

They finally reached for the dungeons, and in the very exact moment his younger self, guided by his mother, was forced to look inside one of the cells, older Phobos couldn't contain himself anymore. "How can you do this?!" said the deposed Prince to the image of his mother, who clearly, couldn't hear him. "That's your own son, who loved you, worshipped you! How could you do something like this to…?" Phobos' rant was then interrupted by his younger self's scream. "NO!" heard the older Phobos from the cell. And looking in that direction, he saw something that he had tried to forget for so many years… with no result, always hunting him in his nightmares, from the deepest corner of his mind… that image.

Chained and hanging from the ceiling of the cell, his arms up, and his body full of lashes and other wounds; was Galahad. Blood was dropping from his mouth and eyes… no, after looking better at it, little Phobos aw that one of his eyes was in fact lacking. He looked beaten, weak… terrified.

Weira made her way inside the cell, and snapping him fingers, he threw a bolt of pure light to the chained child. "No! Stop!" yelled at her little Phobos, pulling from her robes, trying to take her way. Weira dismissed this, and taking Phobos from the arms so strongly that it hurt to the boy, she made him look into Galahad. "Look, my son."

Galahad twirled in pain, and much more like in the gardens, he began to change. But while the transformation he had shown his friend had been majestic and elegant, this one was messy, painful (it was being forced upon him) and dirty. Both Phobos-es could see how Galahad's limbs twirled and transformed against his will… so unnaturally in contrast of how they had done in the gardens, than a few of the little boy's bones pierced through his skin and flesh, appearing in the surface of the body.

In the end, the thing that remained was a deformed version of the majestic auburn pigeon. His body badly damaged, one of the wings completely broken, the chains unable to support the extra weight, they broke and the body fell to the ground, Galahad not able to gather strength enough to even scream, simply gasping for air.

Weira held Phobos strongly, not letting him to go aid the bird-child. "This, my son, look at _it_. This is a shapeshifter, not a human, not even a Galhot…" Weira's voice sounded full of contempt, the Queen unable to hid her sentiments of anger and despise for the entire race of the shapeshifters. "Monsters that lure the people into thinking that they are the same as us, but they aren't… The only think that you can expect from them is lies and betrayal."

"That's not true!" yelled again the little Prince. "He is my friend, he is good with me! Isn't he one of your subjects too? You should take care of him!"

A hand slapped little Phobos' face, so strongly that sent him to the ground. Looking up, his hand in his reddened cheek and his eyes starting to cry out, he saw her mother looking down at him… with the angriest expression he had ever seen in her face. "Shapeshifters aren't my subjects; they are _animals_ playing to be _people_. And if you think that they are your friends, then you are a failure as my son. Now, if you want to redeem yourself…" Weira moved her hand and materialized a little rapier at Phobos' side. "Then kill him, and become worthy of being _my son_ again."

" _Kill him?_ " though weakly little Phobos; but still, he stood up, and taking the rapier in his hands, he approached his fallen friend. He saw the poor thing, and in that moment, time stopped. A million thoughts passed over his mind: Kill his friend, kill himself, kill his friend and then himself… Kill his mother. But then he saw the eyes of the fallen Galahad, looking at him, with a simple invitation. "Do it, Phobos, is not important" said those eyes. Phobos held the rapier, and pointing it to Galahad's throat, he started to puss it down his flesh. With each centimeter he advanced, another tear appeared in the young Prince's eyes, and another little bit of his innocence died within him. When the weapon finally pierced through the whole bird-like body of Galahad, the boy exhaled his last breath, and reverting to his human form, he died.

Weira came to Phobos side and kneeling, he washed his tears away. "See, that's what you are mean to be, my son, my child. Do you know what Phobos means? It means fear, a fear that you, as my first child, must inflict upon the hearts of the shapeshifters, monsters that broke my perfect world. That is why you exist, Phobos, my champion. You did good with this one. You have earned my trust. Feel proud."

But Phobos didn't feel proud. The only thing that he felt was revulsion, both from himself … and from his mother.

" **Yes!** " said the high-pitched voice again. " **In that very moment and place, where the prayers of your mind couldn't reach a voice, your innocence and love for your mother died with your friend! And after that, the only thought that troubled your mind, the only reason for your existence, was to take revenge for what had done to your friend!** **But you didn't know how to do it! Until that fateful night, when your own sister was born, and the godlike power that you mother possessed passed down to her!**

The scenery changed again, and now it was starting to show images at full speed. The body of little Phobos growing and changing, and also the belly of his mother inflating more and more; until finally, the scenery settled and older Phobos saw again his younger self, now fourteen, walking decidedly towards his mother's chambers, only some cries of a baby resonating through the halls. Accompanying him was a Galhot that had earned recently a high commanding title in the militia thanks to him. And so, the soldier had bow before the Prince and had sworn loyalty only to him. His name was Raythor, and Phobos was going to make him the pillar of his ascension. Upon reaching the door of the chambers, the Prince directed to the soldier. "Wait here, Captain"

Phobos entered his mother's chambers and saw her, dressed only into a white gown, a little bump of white towels in her arms. As always, Zedd was nowhere to be found. Approaching her, Phobos knew that it was his sister, just born that night. Thunder and lightning could be heard from outside the castle, the raindrops hitting strongly in the crystals of the windows. "How is going she to be named?" asked the Prince.

Weira smiled proudly, not taking her gaze from her newborn daughter, who now sleept peacefully. "Elyon, she will be called Elyon."

Phobos looked at the baby, his sister, and then back to his mother. "And what does that one mean?" asked the boy for the baby's name meaning.

"The Most High; the woman who will be at the top of our kingdom, the Queen that will purge all the monsters and bring order to the people; the Light of Meridian, that's my daughter."

Phobos sneered at that sentence. Even after all he had to suffer, in the end, the one to reign will be just another Queen… or so it seemed. "Can I take her just a little, mother?"

Weira smiled confidently, thinking that her son just wanted to hold his sister a little. Upon depositing the baby in her son's arms, baby Elyon awakened. The little baby girl mumbled a little and then started to make movements with her little arms that Phobos interpreted as the form in what babies stretched themselves. At first, Elyon seemed a little disturbed to be in the arms of someone that wasn't her mother. But, when her blurry eyes took note of Phobos' silhouette, she giggled (or produced a sound very similar to it) and fell fast asleep again. After all, she was a baby. "See? She likes you" said Weira, but Phobos doubted that was the case. He supposed that, due to the similarities between him and his mother, the bay's undeveloped eyes had mistaking him for her.

"Can I put her in her baby crib now, mother? You seem like needing a rest" stated the young Phobos.

"Yes, do it" answered Weira. Meanwhile Phobos was putting Elyon in her crib, Weira closed her eyes. "Yes, I deserve a very good rest" starting to fall asleep, an image of her son and daughter, in the future, her in the throne and him besides her started to appear in her mind as she fell asleep… just before a indescribable pain pierced her hearth and made her totally awake. Over her body stood now Prince Phobos, her own son; after impaling his mother with a rapier and currently twisting it slowly, in order to inflect as much pain as he could.

Phobos looked at his dumfounded mother with a harsh expression, continuing to twist the weapon in her hearth. "Do you recognize this one? This is the same rapier I killed Galahad with. The same one that I have used, over this whole four years, to kill everyone you deemed 'impure'. Which is what I'm doing now, mother. Now that my sister is here, you have no hearth of Meridian inside you. Just a normal human being; and you want to hear something funny?" Phobos got close to her mother's ear, leaning over her, her life almost gone from her eyes. "A shapeshifter would survive this kind of wound; a human won't"

And with that, the young Prince stopped to inflict pain and simply pushed the sword forward, piercing not only through her mother, but also the bed she was in. He then directed himself, to the crib his sister was sleeping it, and lowered his hands towards her throat…

" **This is the turning point, isn't it?** " the high-pitched voice again. " **If your sister had died, since you are the last Escanor, male or not, the power of the Hearth of Meridian would have passed down to you…** " then Phobos put his hands in baby Elyon's throat… and she emitted the same giggled-like sound as before, and young Phobos only was able to put her blankets well and get away from her. " **But you couldn't! Even after killing your own mother, you saw your sister and thought not only that she wasn't guilty, but that maybe, if educated by you she could be better than Weira, and a true family for you!** "

"I was stupid then," said older Phobos, retorting to the voice for the first time "weak, too much emotional… I didn't think straight. If I knew ack then that it could have been so easy…"

The high-pitched voice started to emit a series of shrieking sounds, to finally burst into the most maniacal laughter that Phobos ever had heard. " **Ihihihihihihihi! Is that so?! Well, why don't we wait and see?!** "

And the older Phobos saw his young counterpart exiting the royal chambers, and directing himself to Raythor. "Captain, have you gathered all the soldiers loyal to me and identified the ones that will remain loyal to my mother without attending to reason?"

Raythor made a little bow to him. "Yes, sire."

Phobos made a gesture with his hands, pointing onwards. "Then arrest them all" said the Prince with coldness in his voice.

"And if some of them resist or their families try and defend themselves?" asked the soldier to the royal.

"Then… we have no other choice as to kill them, Captain. I have put you at the front of my men. Don't disappoint me."

Raythor made another bow, this one considerably more pronounced. "Never sire! For my honor!" and the Captain dashed forwards… in a few hours he will unleash a living hell upon the city. And young Phobos returned to the chambers.

To find them empty. He looked around, looking for his sister, but the baby crib was empty, no trace of the little one to be seen. "Where is she?!" shouted the young Prince. "WHERE IS SHE?!" his eyes were red with anger, and in that moment, his power of magic siphoning awakened, driving away the life of every plant in her mother's chamber, leaving only dust and a stronger young Phobos behind. Older Phobos looked at this and remembered how good it felt to drain a living thing of energy in the first place.

" **Ihihihihihihihihi! So that's it after all!** " mocked the thigh-pitched voice.

"What do you mean?!" said the deposed Prince.

The scenery started to crumble around him, ruble falling around him, albeit the image of his younger self didn't notice. " **All the gathering of power, all the ambition, all the conquest, victories and loses! They were just in order to make you feel better…** " the world made of memories crumbled down, and Phobos fell again in the dark, the last thing that he could heard before abandoning his past was the high-pitched voice. " **Just bury your weak, human soul! WHAT A PATHETIC EXCUSE!** "

When Phobos fell again against the cold floor of whatever place he had been since he solved that damned ox, he let the words of the voice to sank into him. Was that really true' All of that, had been just to feel better? No! That was impossible, he was Phobos Escanor! He was the rightful ruler of Meridian! If those peasants had just listening to him! If Kandrakar hadn't rise a Veil around his world…If his sister hadn't disappeared… If only his mother… He was the only one worthy!

" **Please, don't lie to yourself, it will only embarrass you** " said the metallic voice. " **Our brother has hit the center of the bull's-eye with you.** "

" **This is the truth of who you are** " it was now the female voice. " **The reality of your own self: just a child demanding attention and love. If your true nature wasn't that…** " a new window appeared in the air, this one showing Phobos' first meeting with the teenage Elyon, not so many long ago. " **You would have killed her the first time she appeared before you after all those years, or cut her cute little head off when you drained her for the first time. But you didn't, instead playing that charade of a happy life you designed to deceive not only her, but your lonely hearth.** "

" **So! Now that we have revisited your past, and know what your present is built upon, it's time to move to your future!** " said then the high-pitched voice. " **Ohm! Is it time; time to make the question!** "

The sound of the trumpets went completely nuts, shaking the weird structures that composed the location. The things that lurked over the deformed buildings become clearer, and Phobos took a glimpse of them. They weren't only enormous, but almost without a clear form, too many tentacles coming from them, too many mouths, too many eyes. They looked like even more monstrous versions of the beast that had followed Tracker to the Infinite City.

Then, at the music's compass, four enormous shadows that dwarfed even those creatures raised from the dark. One looked like a muscular man in an armor; other one like a curvaceous woman; another one like a tall, skeletal bald man; and the last one had the figure of a child. It was this last one the one that spoke. " **Phobos Escanor, of the blood of the one that the Fourth One once was. Tell me, and tell us. What it is that you truly desire?** "

Phobos went to the ground, kneels in it. This was the reason he hated to remember. Those… _things_ were right, and he couldn't deny or lie about it, because he was pretty sure they would know. So he stayed in the ground, looking at the never-ending shadows that composed his interlocutors. Was his sister put through this too? Was that the reason behind her having that puzzle box? Did she answer that question too?

Tears down his eyes, the pathetic Prince of Meridian make his decision, the cage of lies he had caged himself into falling apart, the first time in years to sincere himself, with the most glorious of monstrosities as witnesses. Phobos get to his feet and, facing the four shadows, he said.

"I want to be loved"

The four shadows emitted a sound, and from them, tendrils burst towards Phobos, piercing each one through his body, and engulfing his body in the dark. Phobos felt an unbelievable level of pain that passed by his body… but that ended up feeling good at the end, his body shape changing, his bones and muscles reorganizing themselves under his skin, some of them growing, some others decreasing. And in that cocoon of darkness, Phobos saw Elyon again. In the end, the only person who really cared for him.

The four voices sounded yet again in unison.

" ** _The branded one as a potential servant and priest, he now becomes a fully fledged Hierophant, a champion of Desire that now is rebirth through the power of us Four and the Abyss itself! Arise, Phobos of Meridian, the first of your name. Arise, and forever and ever…"_**

 _ **DO WHATEVER YOU WANT**_

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian. The chambers of Queen Elyon_**

Elyon was currently coming from one of her baths. She had to admit, these were fairly relaxing. After all the day's hard work, she really needed those. And Irvine wasn't that bad massaging her shoulders. Maybe she should give her a raise.

Clothed in nothing more than a bathrobe, she jumped straight to her bed, landing with her butt in it and making the furniture to tremble. Tomorrow was the inauguration in Carhaiz, so she must have some sleep. Oh, what the hell, how could she sleep. She was just too much exited for it! And of course, she had felt it too, the appointing ceremony being completed.

The Queen crossed her legs, and, still sitting in her bed, she smiled cheerfully. "I know that you are there, big brother. Come, I want to see you."

Out of the shadows of a corner, Phobos appeared in the room. But his appearance was so different that, if she hadn't been aware of his change, she could have mistaken him for any other person.

For starters, his hair was considerably shorter, and albeit still long, it only reached halfway his neck, and was also considerably spiky. His goatee, in the other hand was larger than before, almost reaching halfway his neck. His body was considerably more muscular than the toned but skinny Prince left in the dungeons; now the one that would make the minds of some models minds full of envy and the eyes of some women flash with lust. His clothes had been replacing with a dark long-coat of the same colors of his previous regal robes; and now sported a pair of trousers very similar in color to his hair. The most interesting add to his attire were the pair of metal gloves that covered his hands and that reached almost to the end of his mid-arm. They were of a brilliant golden, and ended in pointy and sharpened claws. He was holding the puzzle box Elyon had handed to him previously. He deposited it gently over the Queen's desk.

"I believe this is yours, sister" said the Prince, his voice sounded more mature. Now that Elyon looked a t it, his whole body looked older, like a man in his late twenties, almost in his thirties. "It was quite… enlightening. So, how do I look?" asked the Prince, holding his arms opened.

Elyon didn't move from her seat, but smiled sincerely and warmly. "You look far better than before, big brother. It really suits you. So, what are you intended to do, now that you are freed?" asked the Queen.

Phobos did then something that no one in the whole universe would have expected him to. He kneeled before his sister, an arm over one knee and the other in the ground, his head bowed. "I know I didn't behave as how I was supposed to behave" he started "but I would like to make amends with you, Elyon, and finally be the Prince this world deserves, and the brother you ever needed. That if, of course, you accept me. Not as a fellow Hierophant, but as family."

Elyon descended from her bed and, putting his hands upon Phobos' cheeks, she made him raise his head to eye her. Her eyes became as black as they were when she had faced Cedric, and she smiled upon him. " ** _How could I negate someone who just tries to redeem himself at my eyes? Of course that I will accept you, Phobos, my brother, of the same blood as I am_** " Elyon put her forehead against her brother's, her eyes as black as an endless night eyeing his, that now were of a potent golden. " ** _I love you_** "

And like that, the two Hierophant siblings stood for awhile, almost embraced, the dream of having them together that Weira had in her deathbed finally becoming true… albeit in such a different manner as intended.

 _So I have a golden hearth. Now only needing the voice of the master. Never feel anger, never grown older. My dream was to be a star in a real puppet show._ The boy who wanted to be a real puppet; Sonata Arctica.

* * *

 **A/N: There it is… FINALLY! Is really this tiring to write so long chapters? Whoa, writers deserve much more credit for what they do… So, this was the first Meridian Interlude, which allows you all to know my version of the origin stories of both Caleb and Phobos, children forced to become what they are by their circumstances… and their mothers. Now, I tried to make both back-stories believable and show what were the reasons behind the paths they decided to follow long ago, and what their motivations were. Also, I wanted to set both Phobos and Caleb as people that are very different, but similar in so many ways. And no, I'm not going to show anyone the exact images of what happened in Sonder Hill until the right time has come, because I intend to use those images to lay a very hard blow to the ex-rebels and to Meridian in general. If you put off the pieces, you will guess what happened before I show you. And, as for Queen Weira's behavior, every fanfic that I have read that had her in it portrayed her as a paragon Queen that loved her son, her husband, her world and everyone on it… and sorry to the fans of her in that nature, but… HEROES AND PARAGONS doesn't exist in this fanfic, or at least, aren't going to be common. Hell, the nearest things we have to a hero are the Guardians and I'm going to take care of that in latter chapters.**

 **Next, our little glimpse into Cedric's and Miranda's… couple life; serves two ends. One, show how, even as monsters (hell, albeit in self-defense, Miranda killed a bunch of people as a fucking kid) they love each other from the bottom of their hearths… but it's still pedophilia. Think about that during Miranda's blowjob! Second, it serves to show how much Elyon has evolved in the 'dark side' direction. She is now cunning enough for knowing that, if wanting Cedric in her side, she has to let rid of his 'Starscream' tendencies, so how does she this? Mindfucking him at the same point she gave him those powers and playing in his weakness, his love for Miranda. Also, note how Elyon says to Cedric that no one will miss Phobos if he dies, but when the now Hierophant Phobos (who's new appearance is a shot out to Estarossa of Nanatsu no Taizai) bows before her and says that he wants to stay; she said that she loves him. So this chapter wasn't only to show Caleb's and Phobos' pasts; but also to set Elyon as THE villain of the Meridian Interludes. We will find out why she is now like that in the third interlude, I think. Oh, and if you are a fan of Game of Thrones, you must know on whom I based Lot.**

 **And that's all. I hope that you all understand my reasons to play these characters this way. By the way, the quotes for the songs are each one for Caleb and Phobos; respectably in that order, the one from Heavenly for Caleb and the one for Sonata for Phobos. They are meant to show and summarize how Caleb's and Phobos' characters work in this fic.**

 **So, the second Meridian Interlude will come after the next pair of Riddle Arc chapters; and it will be called 'The Hunt'. Until then, enjoy the next chapter, A Christmas Carol.**

 **Have pleasant days and nights.**


	8. Chapter 8: Riddle Arc Part III

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH; it's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **Well, after the few things that I dropped in the first Meridian Interlude and in the previous Riddle Arc chapter; I think that we (and the girls) need a little time for relaxing… so this will be a chapter dedicated mainly to heartwarming, character development and build up for the next chapter, which is where things are going to explode. Remember that Christmas party that I mentioned in previous chapters? Well, guess what day is today in the story! Hehehehehe… I really hope you like the 'moves' I made in this one.**

 **As always, have a pleasant read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

 **PD: Thanks to Luna Flight and Selene Star for the new review.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter eight

Riddle Arc. Part Three

A Christmas Carol

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of the Infinity._**

Oracle Himerish stood beside Luba in the Auramere chamber, seeing how the five little glowing orbs that contained the remains of the Four Dragons and the Nymph Xi Jing moved in circles without stop. He had been there almost for half a day, just after finishing his 'conversation' with A'heres. After explaining to Luba, guardian and protector of the Aurameres, which the Guardian's demands were; they had been trying to figure out if there was a problem with the connection between the Aurameres and the Heart of Kandrakar, or with the Aurameres in particular. But they hadn't found anything.

Himerish put his hands at his back. "So, there really isn't any problem, albeit I have sensed that the Guardians are really having problems with the powers they wield…"

"It is in fact, really strange, Oracle" said Luba, her catlike features making her act of frowning much more noticeable. She thought about it for a moment. "Maybe this new mysterious enemy is blocking their abilities? The Keeper commented about not being able to use her powers properly due to something she described as a sound."

Himerish pondered it a little. "Or perhaps the problem is in the wielder. Ah… Remember what happened a little time ago?" asked the Oracle, his eyes resting in the Aurameres.

Luba nodded. Of course she remembered, everyone remembered. It had been something that didn't happen since the times of the first Guardian generation… or at least, that was what the records say. "The complete binding with the Aurameres, the merge with the elements… and those five _girls_ touching the Dragons" said the cat-woman. Then she realized the implications of what she had said. "You don't believe that…?"

Himerish nodded, his eyes closed, his expression showing concern. "I'm afraid so. I'll send someone to Earth in order to have a talk with them. Thank you for your efforts, Luba." Himerish started to leave the chamber, only stopping when Luba made another of her questions.

"How is the lover of the Keeper doing?" asked the cat-woman.

Himerish turned around and answered to her. "Quite good, I must admit. He had surpassed my expectations. I never thought of you as someone that would care about him just like that, although"

Luba raised her hands in a mocking of an apologetic manner. "Thanks to those girls this universe is saved… the least I can do is care about the people they care. So, you are sure he is cured of that thing inside him?"

"There aren't traces of that presence that Nerissa created within him. Or at least, that's how it seems; maybe he has it under control again." Said Himerish, not very convinced, but not troubled by it. "He seems… peaceful, but doesn't want to explain to me how he exactly escaped from that demon's gasp this time."

Luba smirked. "You could know it if you wanted" said the woman.

Himerish smiled upon that remark. "Yes, I could. But I won't. An Oracle (and no one, for that matter) should never abuse of his power, that's something that I had made my creed, Luba. That's the type of Oracle I decided to be when this responsibility was passed down to me." And yet, he had made his own bad decisions. Back when he was just a warrior in Basilade, when the only thing he wished for was just a man strong enough to witness the strength of his sword and survive to make a counterattack. He received that wish in the form of Endarno, whose powerful strikes were enough not only to half-kill Himerish, but also to take him out of his self-destructive way of life. If it hadn't been for the scarred warrior's interference, the body count at his feet could have been doubled. And of course, he had made his mistakes as an Oracle too; especially with the previous generation of Guardians. If he had taken another approach to Nerissa's problem, maybe all that pain and hatred could have been avoided. And of course, there was the mission he gave them long before the former Keeper's fall. Maybe that had been the start of everything.

"Perhaps the responsibility of delivering the message should be given to the boy. It could be better if we explained it to him and he could do it to the girls. It could be… easier for them if explained by a friendly and known face."

Himerish smiled to his long time companion and friend. Then he sprouted a little laugh, which made Luba to look at him, her whiskers trembling a little by the surprise. "You always had the exact words to say to make me choose in the correct option, Luba. I'm glad of having you here. I will have a talk with Matt Olsen. Who knows? Maybe if he grows tired after being an Earth Regent, he could be a good candidate for being a sage."

The two friends bowed to each other, and Himerish started to leave again. Luba returned to watch over the Aurameres again, her mind calmed, but at the same troubled by the fact that the only answer for the Guardian's state about their powers was…

Luba heard a heavy sound behind her. She turned back and saw Himerish, the all powerful oracle of Kandrakar… with his knees in the floor, one hand as support and the other one over his Heart. Luba roused towards him and helped him to stand again, albeit Himerish's face looked much paler than before. He looked at her and Luba understood, just with one look, that something was wrong… very wrong; and the worst part was that neither of them knew what was. And that, considering the sight of an Oracle, was something terrifying.

* * *

 ** _The world of Earth. December 24_** ** _th_** ** _. Christmas Eve. Morning._**

Albeit closed to the public, the insides of the Silver Dragon were as chaotic as when the restaurant was at its full capability. Each member of the Lin clan was running from one place to another, both with ingredients for the kitchen or ornaments for the dining hall. In said hall, the normally insane amount of tables had been replaced with a long, rectangular table. It was meant to hold the dinner of the whole five families of the the five girls that composed the current Generation of Guardians… or in the majority of the families' minds, just an average group of five girls.

After all they had witnessed; connected to the business of being a Guardian or not, they needed this party. They needed a moment to breathe tranquilly, to look at each other and smile in exchange of cry or frown. That was the reason behind Hay Lin almost jumping side to side of the hall, putting ornaments in the walls and the ceiling. If her parents were in the kitchen at the same time, she even used her domain over air to help her out.

In three hours, more or less, the whole restaurant was ready for the party, the main dishes ready to jump into the skillets and cooking pots when the time came. Not wanting to make a mess of anything, the Lin clan put a small table in the kitchen and putting five chairs around it, each one of them took a drink. While Yan Lin and her 'sister' Mera liked to have a special tea that they had been making since the moment they finished all the preparations; both Chen and his wife liked to have just plain drinks of beer; and Hay Lin just wanting to drink a cold soda with some ice cubes. Stretching herself after taking a very long gulp, the teenager girl deposited her arms and head over the table, her scarred hands with the palms over the blanket that covered the furniture piece, letting the marks gained in the mall at everyone's sight.

The teenager yawned. "I feel like I could go and sleep over the rest of winter…" said Hay Lin, her eyes shot down.

"Well, feel free to go and take a nap before eating" said Joan Lin.

"Really?" asked Hay Lin to her mother, her eyes lighting up in a childlike manner. After Joan's nod, Hay Lin sat up and, after giving a kiss to Joan in the forehead, she went upstairs. "Yay! Thank you, mom!" and then she went directly to her room, hoping to rest and get energies for tonight. That left the two adults and the two identical elders drinking their cups alone.

After sensing that her daughter was already in her room, away from the sound produced by them, Joan spoke, albeit her tone of voice was lower than the usual. "So, when are we going to tell her about…?"

"After Christmas" sentenced Chen, abruptly. He didn't like the prospect of telling his daughter about her visiting a psychologist… or accepting that she would never paint again.

Joan looked a little offended at her husband. "Yeah, and when that time comes, you would say 'after New Year', and when that time comes you will say 'before she starts school' and…"

"Then maybe you should be the one to tell her that she'll never paint nothing again!" shouted Chen, and after seeing to whom he was directing his voice, he calmed himself and looked again at Joan. "I'm sorry Joan, but… It's just…"

"What?" asked Joan, her voice incapable of betraying the fact that it was almost breaking. "Do you think that you are the only one who sees her smiles when she paints, the pride that she feels when someone congratulates her and that I feel for her? Do you think that I'll like to tell her that?!"

A clap sounded across the room, making the married couple to stop their argument. The chinese 'twins' had clapped at the same time, indicating to the pair to shut their mouths. "Please, this kind of situations head to nowhere" said Mera.

"And even if she has a floor and a bed to soften the sound, Hay Lin could still heard you if you shout hardly enough" was what Yan Lin said.

The married couple felt silent. They didn't look at each other at first. They hated to shout to each other, but they hated more the fact of seeing her daughter suffering. Seeing this, the 'twins' spoke again. "See? Nothing comes from shouts but more conflict" started Yan Lin. "I think that the best thing for my granddaughter right now is to enjoy the festivities. She deserves it, and you both know that."

Mera continued. "But I do agree in telling her after Christmas" she then eyed Chen. "Emphasis in _after;_ nephew. Delaying it could only add more pain to the reveal."

The couple still silent, Yan Lin took the reins of the conversation again. "You two should enjoy the festivities too. There had been more black clouds above your heads than Hay Lin's. And you aren't the ones scarred for life" sentenced the elderly chinese woman.

"But…!" started Chen, just to get a glare from his mother and his (for the lack of a better term) aunt.

"No 'buts'" said the pair of old women at the same time, ending the conversation, in a way that could have been described as 'creepy' by some ones.

Chen and Joan fell silent again, and lifting up from their seats, they left the room, hopefully and probably to apologize to each other on their behavior. This left the pair of chinese elders alone, drinking their tea. After a few minutes of silent slurping Mera put her cup in the table and spoke. "Do you still have that target Chen brought from that doctor?"

Yan Lin looked in her robe's pockets, pulling out said target out after searching. The target was just a plane white piece of paper, with the name of man and his credentials as psychologist and therapist under it. Albeit the titles were written in a normal, average letter, the name of the man was hand-written into an elegant and thin one, remarking sophistication.

"Do you think…" said then Yan Lin. "that we should send Hay Lin to this man?"

Her double shrugged her shoulders. "If she really needs help from a professional, and is willing to accept it… there are things that cannot be healed only with old probers and tea, sister."

"You are right in that" said Yan Lin, and then she chuckled a little. "You know, I never thought of growing so accustomed to you in such a short time, Mera."

Her double chuckled in the same manner. "Well, after all I'm you. Not liking me would entitle a very hard time of self-deprecation, Yan Lin."

The pair of sisters that really wasn't such laughed. They needed this type of times too. For the moment they will let Hay Lin sleep, let her swim in the realm of dreams, where nothing harmful can come and get you… if you are lucky enough to not anger the correct people.

* * *

In the residence of the Lairs, Christopher (usually called Chris) Lair; was woken up from his slumber by a heavy sound of moving that came from the family's attic. Like any children in vacation, Chris didn't like the idea of waking up from bed earlier than eleven o'clock. That noise had awoken him an hour earlier than that. And that, for Chris Lair, was as an act of heresy. Chris exited his room and went to the entrance of the attic. He saw it opened, and without a doubt or fear in his Heart, he went up the stairs and entered the room.

It was better illuminated than he thought it would be. Normally, the attic was bad-illuminated and full of nasty things, like spiderwebs. But now it was pretty clean and luminous. It could have looked as if someone had cleaned it… if it wasn't for the complete mess that it was.

Inside the room, Irma was tossing the contents of each box that was in the attic to every possible side, like some sort of lunatic. Chris looked at the spectacle an, for a moment, thought that he was dreaming. Then he just remembered how his sister was sometimes.

Still sleepy, Chris groaned. "What are you doing, Irma?" said the child, trying to get a reason for why had he been awoken. To add more confusion to his mind, the brunette girl just continued to toss away more stuff, until the box she was searching into ended emptied. She then passed to the next one.. "Hey, you knucklehead, I'm talking to you! What are you doing?" but Irma didn't answer; instead she started to tear up the next box as frenetically as she just did with the other.

"Not in this one, either…" mussed the Water guardian.

Not wanting to take more of Irma's behavior, Chris dashed towards her and shook her shoulders with his hands. "Hey! What are you doing? You wake me up before my waking up hour!"

"AH!" shouted Irma in panic, not having heard her brother until now. She jumped in such a manner that she tossed the box in the air, making all its contents to fly over the attic. "What was that for, you pipsqueak!" shouted Irma to him. "Look at what have you done!"

"What have _I_ done?" retorted Chris. "More like what _you_ have done! What are you doing here anyway?!"

Irma folded her arms. "I'm looking for something, genius! But now that everything is just splattered over everywhere…" said Irma, just for the anger of her voice to drop when she spotted something in the floor. It was an old photo album. She took it, now a bright smile on her face, and, almost ignoring Chris existence, she went directly downstairs, exiting the attic.

Chris was left there, a little dumbfounded, before he took notice of his surroundings and went running after his sister. "Hey Irma! At least clean this mess up! Mom will be angry with you!"

* * *

The halls and corridors of Heatherfield's prison house were as the ones from any other jail of Earth. Not dark, but no light ether; just a grey and silent atmosphere over the marble walls and the closed cells. If wasn't full of the worst kind of people out there, of course. Heatherfield, as big of a city as it was, it wasn't akin to criminals of very big names. The majority of the prison's inmates were just thieves or aggressors; members and leaders of organized bands, at worst. Of course, there were a few people worse than the others. Killers, rapists… not even a place like Heatherfield could avoid completely the darkest parts of the human heart. Not even in a supposedly time of peace and love as Christmas.

Nigel Ashford never was a very huge fan of Christmas. For him, the festivities looked superficial, and the family reunions… well, his family wasn't very akin to reunions or parties. Not since what happened with Danny. And for Danny, only for Danny… was that he was there.

The man before him, hidden behind a bunch of thick bars, looked at his ID card and the document that Nigel had brought with him. Tossing them again via a little overture by the lower part of said bars, the prison officer gave them again to Nigel, and with a gloomy and hard look, not even bothering to speak; he indicated to the teenager that he could pass by the door that was at his little office's side.

Nigel accessed to the visiting room of the prison. The first time that he saw it, it reminded him of all those films and sitcoms that had some scene played in jail. Now, it had become such a familiar sight, the chairs resting in the floor, near the crystal that separated the two halves of a table meant to be a place of reunion. Sighing, and with the same mix of dread and sadness that the sight of the criminals talking to their relatives and friends always made in him, he took a seat.

After a few minutes, at the other side of the crystal, an officer accompanying a prisoner appeared. The officer looked as mediocre as his companion back in the office, but the prisoner that was with him was the one that gathered all of Nigel's attention. It was a man in his early twenties or so, dressed in the obligatory penitentiary suit, his hair (now so sort that it looked almost like it had been cut near to zero) of a color very similar to the one of Nigel's. Even their faces looked similar. After all, this was Daniel Ashford, normally called Danny, Nigel's big brother.

Nigel could see how one of his brother's eyebrow rose in signal of surprise upon seeing him. Looking a little wary at first, Danny took the seat in front of Nigel, and picked up the phone that permitted both prisoner and visitor to talk to each other. Danny's first line in the conversations, however, wasn't very kind.

"What are you doing here?" asked the prisoner to Nigel.

The youngest brother didn't flinch at that remark. "I'm here to pay you a visit; that seems pretty obvious" said Nigel, not being able to restrain a scold for his big brother.

Danny scolded back. "I can see that. What I don't now is why. You never came to pay me a visit before, Nigel. I mean, it's not that I care, but it hurts a little this stone-made heart of mine… How un-sweet of you…"

The younger brother closed his eyes, trying to take a hold of the turmoil of emotions that was inside him at the moment. He then started to stand up from his seat. "You know, I knew that this was a bad idea. Good bye Danny, I'll tell mom and dad that you said hello."

Danny made an angered expression, but tranquilly, he retorted to his little brother. "Okay, I'm sorry for that last one. But now seriously, why now, of all times? Please tell me that it isn't because it's Christmas now, Nigel. _That_ really would be cruel."

Nigel reassumed his seat and answered to his brother. "I came here to see you just because my girlfriend told me that it would be a good idea. She said that it's the best to be in peace with our families… I don't know why exactly she told me that, but she sounded very worried. So here I am, not for you, but for her."

Danny let the words from his brother's answer to banish in the sound of the telephone line. "You have a girlfriend?" asked the older brother, in a quite stupid manner.

Nigel put an arm over the table that was in front of him and let his weight to rest in it. Of course Danny didn't know about Taranee. Who could have told him? "Yes, I have a girlfriend" answered Nigel.

Danny looked down at the same table that is brother was resting his arm. A sad smile appeared in his lips. "Man, I sure have missed a lot of things"

Nigel took a more straight position again. "Yeah, you have missed a lot. Do you know what else have you missed? Mom crying over you all the nights since you got here. Wanting another one? Dad almost becoming a fucking ghost version of himself because of _you_. Because you…"

"Were an idiot" finished Danny for him. "Yes, Nigel, I didn't know that. Because being in a fucking prison, without receiving any contact except from a bunch of creeps it's not a signal big enough that I fucked up. Well, guess what, little brother? I fucked up. I know it far better than you! You don't have any fucking idea of what is to be here, or done what I did! So don't you dare to lecture me about my failures! Because you don't have any idea about what it is to take a life!"

Nigel eyed his older sibling. And Danny eyed back. The two of them gazing at each other, without saying anything, their eyes enough to express what their voices couldn't. Danny was the one to break the silence. "You should be going now. The time of visits is almost done, and I wouldn't like to waste your time anymore."

Without saying goodbye, Nigel started to stand up. He didn't hang the phone, although. "I'll tell mom and dad… that you are okay. Happy Christmas, Danny"

"Happy Christmas, Nigel" answered Danny; but he got one last question for his brother. "Hey, who is this… girlfriend of yours?"

Nigel looked at his brother and, while turning around, answered. "Taranee. Her name is Taranee Cook." And like that, the younger brother went to the exit of the room, hoping to not come again in a large time… but also with a more peaceful mind that the one he had entered the jail. He was so focused of abandoning that place left out the hand of God that he missed his brother's surprised face that almost showed Danny's feeling of betrayal. A face produced by the Cook surname.

* * *

Out of the prison's building, Taranee was waiting. She had suggested to Nigel that she could accompany him, but he said that this was his responsibility. So, when her boyfriend exited the building and came to her, Taranee couldn't help but ask. "So" started the Fire guardian "how did it go?"

Nigel moved his head. "I… really don't know. I think that, considering all that happened, everything went sweet enough." Nigel made pause and let out a large and loud sigh. "Well, time to go. You have to be prepared for a party."

"You sure that you don't want to come with us?" asked Taranee. "It will be fun, and mom has opened a lot to the idea of us dating recently."

Nigel shook his head. "No. After this, and what you said about being in contact with your closer ones… I think that I would pass this Christmas alone with my family. Thank you by the way, for encouraging me to come here."

Taranee looked at her boyfriend kindly. "It's nothing, really" said the dark-skinned girl. It really had been a good idea. After Nigel had told her about his brother and after all what happened with Mr. Olsen… Taranee though that, if she and Peter ever had such a fight that their relationship ended up broken; and then something as horrible as that happened to him, she never could forgive herself for not talking to her.

The couple mounted over Nigel's motorcycle; albeit it was the one he used for his part-time job as a delivery boy, and started to ride towards the city's main core again. While driving, Nigel could feel Taranee's arms around his chest, pressuring strong but kindly. He could go visit Danny again. " _I'll bring mom and dad with me next time_ " thought the teen.

* * *

Inside the prison, Danny had been returned to his cell. He then punched the wall angrily, making his fist to bleed. " _Cook, Cook, Cook!_ " thought angrily the young man. How? How was even possible for his little brother to be dating someone who was tied to that woman? Didn't he know that…? " _No_ ", stopped himself there Danny, " _of course he doesn't know_ " thought the young man, now quite sadly.

He then went directly to that excuse of a bed he had, and sitting in it, he looked at the ceiling. " _If only I could get out of here_ " he let a sigh to exit his mouth. " _Nigel, mom dad… If only I could tell you what really happened…_ "

* * *

"Come on! Come here, Mr. Turtle!" said a cheering and childlike voice that echoed thought the late Herbert Olsen's pet shop. Lillian Hale, alongside Napoleon and Mr. Huggles, was chasing a quite scared turtle through the floor. If someone tells you that turtles are slow animals, then this little girl had something to object to that assumption.

"Lillian!" shouted the voice of Cornelia Hale. "Stop messing around and grab that thing!"

"It's harder than it looks!" said Lillian, who finally had cornered the reptile into a corner. Flanked by both cat and dormouse, and the blond mammal coming by front, the turtle reacted in the only way it knew: Hiding inside its carapace. Lillian jumped and grabbed the poor animal. "Got you!" said the innocent and undeveloped Heart of Earth, and deposited the little animal in her sister's hands.

"You have to admit" said Will after entering the main hall of the shop with a pair of cages that looked destined to contain dogs or cats. She wore a bunch of old clothes that were pretty wet due to her cleaning each animal in the back of the shop. "That was some impressing strategy, even if it was used against a turtle."

"I suppose" said her blonde companion. "Well, the result is right here, in my palm. Better leave it where it can't pee me…" continued Cornelia while putting the turtle into a little container with some water.

Will had tasked herself to let the pet shop in an ordered manner before… before whatever was going to happen to the shop happened. She didn't know, but Mr. Olsen had dedicated his life to these animals. It was the best thing to do. Cornelia had offered to help and Lillian had come with her. Even if taking it more like a game than anything else, the presence of the little girl was quite invigorating both for Will and Cornelia. Even if the static sound wasn't there anymore, this place had some vivid memories to it. The image of Mr. Olsen hadn't vanished completely from the redhead's mind, neither had the lines that Shagon had taunted her with. About Matt wanting to… _use_ her.

For Cornelia, Will (and for that matter, everyone else) had noted that her relation with her sister had improved severally since the reveal of her being the Heart of Earth and all the mess with Nerissa. It was kind of ironic, for Cornelia to have two of the people to be closer to her result in being Hearts of a world. Will supposed that fate had that kind of humor. But Cornelia had grown more and more kindly towards her sister with each day that passed. Actually, now that she noted it, Cornelia seemed a lot more kind towards everyone. The blonde that had the word _bitch_ written all over herself that Will had meet for the first time almost two years ago was now completely gone. Now only lasted Cornelia Hale the Earth Guardian; caring, reliable and kindly. If it wasn't for her constant bickering with Irma, Will could have sworn that it was a completely different person.

The two and a half girls were putting every animal in their respective cage and ordering them; which was a little hard considering how each time that Napoleon saw a female cat, he started to rub his body against theirs, the two felines enveloping each other's tail with their own. Lillian thought of it cute, but Cornelia usually went directly and put the female one in her cage again, directing a furious gaze to Napoleon at the same time, who simply answered with a playful smirk to the girl.

" _Great._ " thought the blonde Guardian. " _The cat's a lady-killer, what are the odds?_ "

After almost the whole bunch of animals was prepared, cleaned and organized; and meanwhile Will was passing a broom over the floor and Cornelia was with Lillian letting the back store in order, the bell of the door rang, signaling the appearance of a new person in the shop. Will thought of it a bit confusing. Didn't she lock the door almost after entering the shop?

"I'm sorry" said the redhead, not bothering with looking her interlocutor right in the face. "We are closed; the door should've been closed anyway. The owner isn't here today, so no customers"

"Ah, but I'm not a customer" said a male voice that Will knew quite well. She turned around and saw her father, Tony Vandom, standing in front of the door, has usual white suit over him, albeit he wore a bright brown and large fur coat over it. Taking the fur coat off; he put it over the counter. It looked expensive, to say the last. Even if it sounded a little selfish, sometimes Will thought that she had chosen the wrong parent to live with. Tony opened his arms. "What? Not going to give your old man a hug, or something?"

Will let the broom hit the floor and dashed towards her father's arms, and the two of them embraced into a strong hug, her head buried in his chest. "Dad!" she exclaimed after raising her head. "Where have you been? I didn't know you were in town again!"

Tony chuckled a little upon his daughter's behavior and cheerful tone. It was almost as seeing again that little living red pumpkin that run to one side and another of his and Susan's old house in Fadden Hills. "Well, Serena and I just get to the city again yesterday in the morning. I haven't really left the flat since then… well, at least until today and now. I passed by your house, but your mother told me that you would be here. Isn't your boyfriend's family the one that runs this place? Where are they?"

Tony noted how Will shivered under his arms. "They… they aren't in town at the moment" her voiced had dropped considerably, and Tony could tell that it was almost trembling.

" _Liar_ " thought the redhead man, smiling without Will noticing. So Ricardo had told him the truth. He hoped that he didn't hit very hard his daughter's feelings. "And you are guarding the fort until the rightful King returns? That's a lot of responsibility, even for you."

Will broke the hug and stood still before her father. "Nah, I got help with this one" said the redhead at the very same time that she signaled to the back store's door. It didn't pass long before Cornelia and Lillian appeared through it. Will made a signal to her. "Hey Cornelia, remember my father?"

The blonde looked at the middle aged man, the same red hair and reddish eyes that Will had. "Hello Mr. Vandom" said politely the blonde.

The man smiled and returned the greeting with an equally simple but cordial "Good morning, Miss Hale".

Then Tony's eyes rested upon Lillian, and the little girl looked back at the man. She then proceeded to hide behind her sister, almost in a comical way. Noticing this, Cornelia tried to encourage her sister to talk to Tony.

"Come on, Lillian. It's Will's dad, say hello" urged the older sister to the young one.

But Lillian just kept herself where she was, behind Cornelia, just one of her eyes looking at Tony, with both shy and… fear? Then Cornelia looked at Tony with a stupid and apologetic smile in the face. "Sorry, normally she is much more opened towards the people"

Tony kneeled and his face ended up at Lillian's level. His eyes meet hers and for a moment, Tony's eyes' red intensified, dazzling. Lillian didn't lower her eyes, neither, the fear in the disappearing after a while, leaving a look of determination.

" _Interesting_ " thought Tony while standing again.

"Hey, do you… know about the party tonight?" asked Will to her father.

Tony calmed himself and let his eyes to regain their usual intensity. "Oh, yeah, Susan told me. I'm sorry, but neither I nor Serena will be there. I'm sorry about that one. Speaking of Serena, I think that I must be going now, she is still in the flat and she'll slap me if I go late"

Will hugged her father. Having him here had been a very pleasant surprise, even if he wasn't going to be at the party. Well, she supposed that it was better that way. It could avoid her some uncomfortable moments. "See you, dad" said Will as her goodbyes, and after taking the fur coat and putting it on again, Tony exited the shop.

"Will?" said Cornelia to the redhead.

"Yeah?" asked back the Quintessence Guardian.

"I don't want to sound mean, but… that moment your dad was staring to my sister? That was kind of creepy."

Will dismissed with a smile and a head movement. "Nah, he did that every time when I was a kid. It's some sort of game."

Cornelia and Will stared to the closed door that Tony had left behind. Then they heard a crashing sound at their backs. Turning around, they discovered that it was coming from the back store. Sighing, the two and a half girls went directly to it. Lillian opened the door and a lot of white puffy smoke appeared, making their throats ache.

"I'll go and pick the broom again…" said Will.

"I'll start ordering everything… again" said Cornelia.

From inside the back store, came Lillian's voice. "Ahahahaha! Snow!" cheered the little one, playing with the amounts of white dust that the two teenagers were sure that had been soap for the animals.

"And I'll make sure that she doesn't screw things more…" added the Earth uardian.

Will chuckled. "Oh, come on, Cornelia, let the kid play a little."

Cornelia directed a funny look and a devilish smirk at Will. "Don't spoil her…"

The two of them got at work again. This time it was easier, due to not having the animals around. After ending, the three of them sat in the floor of the shop's main hall, just a bunch of puffs under their butts, and each one of them taking a deserved soda can and rest.

* * *

In the snowed streets of Heatherfield, the temperature was starting to go down. Tonight would be a cold, bleak, biting Christmas night; Tony was sure of it. He had opted for stopping by a café before going back to Serena.

Sitting in a lonely table inside said establishment, he enjoyed a warm cup of dark coffee. Taking a few sips from it, he closed his eyes, and let the atmosphere around him to change while concentrating. In a few minutes he and the table weren't in the café anymore. Tony's surrounding looked like a mix of shadows and flashes, the form of everything around him just a twirling blur. It was nothing more than a chaotic reflection of the ordered mater of the physical plane; the metaphysical realm without order or a real organization; that was this place.

The Abyss.

Tony looked for someone. It wasn't so hard, very few in Earth, or the realm of Gaia, as his uncle always wanted to point out; were able to walk completely in that place. The majority of the reflections from the people were just bright blurs, like the distorted light of a candle or a light bulb.

Tony didn't have to employ too much effort until founding who he was searching for. He spoke without a warning or a signal of his presence.

" _Hello_ " thought Tony. In the Abyss, mouths and voices aren't needed, just your own psyche. But careful! If your mind isn't strong enough, you'll end despaired and defeated before even the battle begun, and you'll be ripped off your individuality and melt in the shadows.

The presence shivered upon Tony's arrival. He was surprised to encounter company, especially his. " _Greetings._ " The voice was deep and barky. It sounded more like a growl than anything else.

" _Do you know who I am?_ " asked Tony to the presence.

" _A Hierophant_ " said the presence. Then, after a few moments, he added, not without a pinch of respect, or something very similar to it. " _The Count_ "

Once his identity acknowledged, Tony let his reputation to make his interlocutor cooperate. " _Where are you now, in the physical realm?_ "

The presence delayed his answer. " _In a dark, windowless and small place. I can smell the sea…_ "

" _You are probably being transported in a ship. Do you know why you are there?_ " asked Tony.

" _I have a new associate now. He likes to make me fight with some metal-mans. Now I think that he wants me to fight again…_ " commented the presence.

Tony knew that this will be likely the case. " _Listen carefully. It's very possible that this new associate of yours will point you against the Nymphs of Kandrakar_."

The presence growled incoherently, both angered and satisfied to hear that. " _I thought that the Nymphs died millennia ago…_ "

" _These are different ones. Each group is replaced by a new generation time by time. But don't let their appearance to fool you. They are strong_ " Tony waited a little to drop the great bomb. " _And my own daughter leads them_ "

Tony could feel how the presence twirled in surprise. " _Your own flesh and blood?!_ " said angrily. " _Grrrrr… How is that even possible? How did the Light get a hold…?_ "

" _It wasn't that the Light took her, but that she was put in there. Anyway, she is still my daughter, so if you let her unharmed, I would be very… pleased_ " ended Tony.

The presence shivered again, this time with something akin to the emotion of joy. " _I will give you my word. Your child won't be harmed by my claws… but I won't be able to stop my new companions._ "

" _Do they knew who and what you are?_ " asked Tony.

Silence again, the presence thinking. " _No. Just the name, and the stories told around a bonfire in the days of the past… but nothing more. Still, I'm in debt with them. I will fight for them._ "

" _I won't forbid that from you, if that's what you desire. Just try and left my daughter out of your gasp_ " said Tony.

" _And the other four Nymphs that accompany the heir of Xi Jing?_ " asked the presence. Tony didn't have to see his interlocutor's physical form to know that he was licking his lips. Tony smirked.

" _They are irrelevant. My daughter will find new friends. She already did once_ " sentenced the redhead man.

" _Then we have a deal, Count_ " said the presence. " _I won't harm her in the slightest. I give you my word_ "

Tony started to leave. He really wanted to get back to his coffee again. " _Do whatever you want_ " said the redhead as a farewell.

" _Do whatever you want, Count_ " answered too the presence.

And then, both of them banished from the Abyss, returning to their respective locations in the physical realm.

Tony stretched himself in his chair and took another sip from the coffee. He then glanced through one of the windows of the café. " _I'm sorry Will, but this is for your own good. And for mine, to be honest._ " He then glanced at his watch. Knowing now the hour, he paid his coffee and went to the streets. " _I wonder… who will this mysterious associate be…?_ "

* * *

Far away from the center of the city, there is a mansion at the top of a cliff that marries with the sea. The mansion is surrounded by a garden composed of powerful and beautiful blue roses. Not even in winter, with the snow, the cold and the powerful storms do these blue flowers whiter or they intense blue fade. They always will remain eternal.

These roses shouldn't exist, and in fact, they only bloom in this exact part of Heatherfield. For many years, they had gathered here curious eyes from simpletons to experts. And no one was able to tell why these impossible flowers were there. Analysis had said that their DNA code was altered centuries ago, but they don't know _how_ it was altered. Some scientist once made a joke saying that it had must been magic. Neither he nor anyone else knew how right he had been. For this place, these lands colored in eternal blue roses, and the mansion, standing tall and powerful, its walls and façade as black as the obsidian… they really were created by the hands of a man of magic. And so, the lands received his name, baptizing them as his legacy in Heatherfield.

Villa Ludmoore.

And now the residence to both Victor and Sephiria Doomstad, who had bought it prior to coming to Heatherfield… and that now were currently unpacking with the help of Victor's own moving fleet.

While the husband was giving instructions to the foreman and his employees in order to them to organize the furniture in a proper manner; the wife was inspecting the whole house. She had stopped by a massive library that occupied the whole center of the building, like it had been built as its pilar. Reaching from one of the books, the senses of the black haired, burgundy dressed woman tingled. Her eyes had caught something in the dark.

Discarding her boots, she started to walk barefoot silently and slowly. Using just minimum strength, she jumped various meters in the air and, without making a sound, she landed perfectly in the top of one of the massive bookshelves. How much had it been? Five, maybe six meters? Sephiria smiled proudly, looking at the ground. Her body never ceased to amaze her, not matter how many years passed. She then looked at front.

Her gaze met the one of a cat; a black, scarred, yet elegant and confident one, for that matter. Sephiria ditched her dress away too, revealing an actually pretty suggestive black bra covering her bust and, of all things, a tong that matched the bra's color. Her body was pretty well built. Not massively muscular, but well toned enough. Her hourglass figure well-pronounced but not exaggerated. The 'jackpot', as some people would like to call it, would be her well shaped and beautiful legs.

Sephiria looked at the cat, and lowering her body, she lied down in the bookshelf's top. Same for the cat, who just seemed to be imitating or even greeting her. Sephiria's and the animal's eyes looked playfully into each other's, and then the cat jumped from the bookshelf. And Sephiria followed.

While the cat landed in its four legs, Sephiria landed in her two, none of them making a very harsh sound, or losing balance. Sephiria smiled to the cat, hand in her almost completely naked hips. "You are a resourceful one, aren't you? I like that, little guy."

The cat jumped then straight to Sephiria's arms, who held it in a manner very similar to the one that mothers held their children. "Uho!" exclaimed Sephiria after getting a closer look into the cat. "So you aren't a guy, but a girl! And you aren't little either!" Putting the cat's eyes at her face's level, she looked at her eyes again. "No, you are a fully fledged woman, aren't you? Proud and powerful… a survivor"

Sephiria put the cat in her very head, and jumping again, she landed in another bookshelf's top. She then started to walk, putting just a foot in front of another. "I'm a survivor too, don't you know? From the beginning, just myself, always alone" Sephiria started to spin, like she was performing a ballet dance. "Always in the streets… until I met Victor, of course. I met his father too, but that wasn't a very pleasant experience" she looked at her hand "not that I complain of the results, either."

Sephiria stopped her spinning and let her body to lie again in the top of the bookshelf, but this time with her back on it. The cat accommodated herself at Sephiria's stomach, abandoning her place at the woman's head. There, she started to purr slow and tranquilly.

Sephiria stroked the animal's fur, returning to her previous demeanor. "Hey, but, c'mon! It's not that you are interested in that; are you?" continues the black haired woman. "You know? Maybe you should live here, with me. I'm pretty good with animals, and Victor still owns me an apology after letting that madman that Theo enlisted to handle the first part of the operation. Chist… a fucking child could have done it better, and without letting all that people die!" Sephiria breathed deeply, and then spoke again, more calmly. "Well, you cannot rewrite the past" she raised the feline with her arms, and let her rest in her torso this time. "What do you say we go down and we introduce you to Victor… umh… Josephine? You like that one?" the cat moved her head without opening her eyes, a pleased purr sounded from her. Sephiria smiled. "I'll take that as 'yes', Josephine."

Embracing the animal, Sephiria rolled to the bookshelf's border and let her body to fall from it. She didn't finch a little until she was almost in the ground, and then, this time using all the might of her body, stopped her fall from what she was sure now were seven meters just by extending one arm and letting her opened palm to tap the floor and then stop her body, the resulting wave shaking the bookshelves a little and making some of the books to fell from them.

Sephiria got back to her feet with a swift and precise jump propelled by her flexing her arm and jumping. Looking around, she saw how even more books were starting to drop. "I think that maybe we overdid it a little, Josephine…" she then chuckled, and started to walk the falling library. Josephine jumped from Sephiria's arms to the ground, accompanying her.

"Who needs all these books anyway?" asked the woman to no one in particular. "Victor told me that a man named Jonathan Ludmoore owned this place, built it from the ground. He told me that his was a really sad story…" Sephiria took one of the books in the ground. "But it's despair that motivates you to change something around you. If you are happy, why would you want to change something? This Ludmoore and Victor… they seem pretty similar. I suppose that's the reason behind my husband choosing this place to be our new home." Sephiria looked sidelong at Josephine. "Hey, Josephine, can I share a secret with you, from woman to woman?"

The cat looked at the human, as in encouraging her. Sephiria smiled and lowered her head to make eye contact again with the animal. "Don't you think that it would be better if instead of a world without magic, humans had control over it this time?"

At that time, the door of the library opened, revealing the guise of Victor Doomstad. He had ditched the jacket of his burgundy suit, leaving only a classic dinner jacket. His usual thin beard and modest goatee and his combed backwards black hair were as meticulously styled as ever. "Sephiria, are you in here?" asked the man. "I think that the house is finally in order, could you come and take a look by… yourself?"

Victor stopped his thoughts after depositing his eyes over the almost naked Sephiria standing in the middle of the library, books dropped to the ground everywhere. Victor looked calmed and collected, though.

The man cleared his throat. "Sephiria, why are you naked? And why are all those books scattered over this place? Also, it's that a cat?"

Sephiria nodded with a bright smile. "Yeah! Meet Josephine, our new cat and my new friend!" said the woman, her grin getting even bigger and brightly.

"Are you serious?" asked Victor, just to see Sephiria holding the cat with her hands, pointing the animal's face towards him. "You _are_ serious."

Sephiria dropped Josephine to the ground. "Oh, c'mon Victor! Since you have a pet, it's normal for me to have one too, isn't it?

Victor sighed. "He isn't my pet… But why are you naked anyway?"

Sephiria looked at her almost naked body. "Why aren't you naked? It's suffocating in there…"

"Sephiria, it's _winter_ " explained Victor, quite annoyed. "And I already told you to satiety that the reason you aren't able to be affected by the cold is only because of your genuine… biological characteristics."

"But can Josephine stay or not?!" asked the woman.

Victor sighed again. How did a man as calm and collected as himself ended up with such a goofball of a woman? Well, to be frank, it was that childlike behavior what entrapped him and made him to fall in love with her. It couldn't be helped; he really loved his adorable goofball.

"Okay, the cat can stay."

"Yes!" exclaimed Sephiria. "You heard that, Josephine? You are part of the family now! Congratulations! Go and celebrate it!"

The cat stretched herself, and in a few jumps, it went to a little opened skylight in the ceiling using the bookshelves as supporting points. Josephine then exited the house through it.

"Aren't you worried that she is now gone?" asked Victor, a little puzzled.

"No, no, don't worry" assured Sephiria. "She will be back by night, I'm certain of that."

"Well, so be it. Your instincts had never failed us before." Victor then looked oddly at her lack of clothing. "By the way; Theodore is going to come here for dinner, so maybe you would want to use a more… _modest_ clothing style."

Sephiria pouted her cheeks. "Okay, okay…" then she held up one finger before Victor's face. "But! Only if you are able to catch me!" and with that, she jumped over Victor and started to run around the whole mansion. Victor sighed again, but then smiled.

"Well, if you want it the hard way…" said he while rolling up his dinner jacket's sleeves. "So be it!"

And the two of them started to play a game of playing tag that would have looked awkwardly weird in the eyes of everyone else, but that for them, it was just a reminder of their mutual love.

* * *

 ** _Hours later that very same day. Heatherfield at dusk._**

Outside the mansion, far away from Villa Ludmoore and back in the city properly speaking; black-furred and scarred Josephine was taking a very enthusiastic walk. Walking over the tops of the walls that hid the gardens and backyards of the little, single family oriented hoses in order to escape from the cold embrace of the snow, Josephine walked happily.

She didn't only enjoy her new destination (which was a very good contrast to the messy and small cage that old man had put her into) but now she also had a name… and a powerful leader to follow. Josephine, as a stray cat could perfectly recognize the aroma of strength… and that woman, Sephiria, irradiated it so strongly that almost was offensive. Almost. Josephine had always looked for a strong alpha. Who would have thought that she would finally find it into a human woman?

The sun was taking its daily nap, and the starts and the moon of winter will soon decorate the black skies. This was going to be a cold, bleak, biting night, she was sure of it, being able to feel it in her bones.

After walking a little, Josephine appeared into one of the main streets of this part of Heatherfield and stopped, captivated by a mixture of delicious smells that imbued the air. Sniffing, she found the origin of said mixture. It was a place fair familiar for the female cat; the Silver Dragon. Before having a name, Josephine used to come here sometimes. The old human lady that had command over this place was kind enough to share pretty tasty food with some of her fellow stray animals.

Tonight, a lot of humans were entering inside, in groups of three to four people. Josephine felt something from some of the individuals entering the place, females, like her. They were strong. Not strong like Sephiria, but strong into a different way. She was able to spot a black haired male among them too… He seemed even stronger than the human females. And quite handsome.

Josephine jumped into a privileged spot into a rooftop, near a chimney that sprouted vapor and maintained her body warm. From that place, she had a direct view of the interior of the Silver Dragon. She saw a human female with two long braids threw her arms to the skies. She looked happy. Josephine wondered what she was saying…

"Happy Christmas, everyone!" cheered Hay Lin once every expected guest to the party was finally inside the Dragon. Vandom, Lair, Cook, Hale and Lin families; all of them complete and prepared to enjoy a happy Christmas Eve's night dinner and party.

"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" retorted in unison the rest of assistants.

The dinner went as normal as it could. The girls, plus little Chris and little Lillian (who were sitting next to each other) were in one part of the massive rectangular table, with the adults in another part.

Mr. Collins and Harold Hale (Cornelia's father) had started a conversation about some guy named Carlos that was both Third and the Fifth of something; while both Susan and Elizabeth Hale joked on how both had ended with such a pair of geeks as partners in life. Anna Lair tried to make her husband, Tom, to try one of the most exotic dishes in the table, while Mr. Cook insisted to his wife, Teresa, to try and not drink too much. The Lin's were receiving a lot of praising for their cooking (albeit the majority of the rest had brought something to the party) and were accepting it as humbly as possible; also giving recipes if someone (mainly Anna, a real cook freak) asked for it. As for the two elder Lins, they were just trolling everyone; saying that they were the other when someone directed to one of them by either Yan or Mera. Upon the confused look in their interlocutor's face, the two asian old women just busted to laughter.

In the 'teenager' part of the table, the situation was quite similar. The girls were talking about fashion, movies, the fact that they will be returning to school soon… Hay Lin then started to interact with Lillian and Chris, commenting in their daily lives. It resulted that, in a really comical contrast to their older sisters, the two little kids were really friendly with each other. This made Taranee to have the bright idea to suggest that maybe the two of them would end up with each other. Which triggered Cornelia to say that her sister would never be with a Lair… which triggered Irma to yell at her demanding to know what her brother (and by extension the Lair family and herself) had wrong about him… which in the end resulted into the now common bickering and friendly fighting between the blonde and the brunette.

Will laughed so hard that almost poured her drink through her nose. It was funny to finally let the mind disconnect from being a Guardian, or fighting evil princes, manipulative witches, or mad and sick men. A moment to just be a bunch of ordinary and normal girls… These moments were the most precious to her.

Meanwhile, both children looked confused at each other. What could be wrong about being with each other? They were very good friends! And they spent a lot of time with each other already!

In one of the room's corners, both Napoleon and Mr. Huggles contemplated the scenes. They were glad that everyone was laughing, but they were also a little bored. Knowing that they weren't needed here, Mr. Huggles decided to find a spot for sleeping, while Napoleon decided to go out and enjoy the fresh air of winter night.

After dinner and a well enjoyed dessert, the table was cleared, and putted away. The whole bunch of families made a cheer (the adults with champagne and the teens with their drinks of choice), and then the adults, plus Chris and Lillian, started to leave. Of course, there were the usual ' _don't come home too late_ ' and ' _be careful on the streets_ ' that parents always told children. Clearly, none of them were particularly worried. Yan Lin and Mera Lin, albeit separated from the quintet, were going to be there and each one of their houses were practically just around the corner of the street.

Of course, both Chris and Lillian were protesting about leaving, but Anna made them cooperate by telling them that they should be in their beds or Santa wouldn't gave them their presents; which made the two children shut their mouths and walk obediently alongside their parents.

Then, like many other times, the group of five girls headed to the restaurant's basement. There the group sit around and continued their talk… until Irma took her handbag and started to pull something out from it.

It was a long, lean bottle, full of a transparent liquid. It could had past for water… if it wasn't for the amount of weird and garish colored labels around its surface.

"What's that?" asked Hay Lin to Irma while signaling the bottle with her index.

Irma put the bottle in the ground, in the center of the circle that the five girls had created by sitting down. The she pulled out a quintet of glasses from the same handbag the bottle had come from, and put them around the bottle. "It's tequila."

Hay Lin made a confused face, while Will looked simply oddly at the bottle. Cornelia face-palmed and Taranee almost jumped from her seat in shock.

"That's alcohol!" exclaimed the dark skinned Guardian.

Irma nodded. "No shit, Sherlock."

Taranee started to made quick movements with her hands in every direction. Irma's, the bottle's the wall's… it looked like she was about to sprout another set of arms. "But… how? Why? Where?" asked Taranee, her eyes almost like a pair of blurry spirals. "We are only fifteen! We aren't allowed to drink alcohol until becoming adults!"

Irma didn't listen and started to put some of the tequila and started to put some of the tequila into the glasses. Taranee practically started to foam from her mouth. "Caught it from my house, of course" continued the Water Guardian. "Mom has so much of this one that she won't be missing a bottle. And chill out, Tara; nothing could happen from taking so little."

Taranee looked even more dumbfounded, especially when Irma caught her hands and put one of the tiny glasses, now full of the liquor, in her hands. The Water Guardian did the same with each of the remaining girls. Taranee moved her head so fast from girl to girl that her neck looked like it was going to snap.

"This is… this is… I don't know what this is!" shouted the Fire Guardian.

Cornelia moved her free hand to the side. "Well, I think that we are going to drink a glass of tequila that Irma stole from her parents"

"Hey!" protested the Water Guardian. "I didn't steal it! It was already in my house, paid and all! I just took it…"

"Did you say something about taking it?" asked Cornelia. Upon Irma's silence, she rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought. Stolen then"

"Oh, shut up, Corny! C'mon, could it really be that bad?" Irma moved her glass up, like proposing a toast to the group. "C'mon! Just one and I promise to not take out the bottle anymore!"

Taranee doubted seriously that Irma was really meaning that, but at least she sat down and took her respective glass of liquor. Each one of the quintet put her glass in the same fashion that Irma did. "See, see! Cheers!" said enthusiastically the Water Guardian before each one of the girls took the content of their glasses and drank them empty.

Irma, like she actually did with almost everything edible that reached her mouth, drank it in one gulp. Taranee mustered her courage and drank it in one gulp too, finishing it with a soundly *BAH* sound from her mouth, which made her teammates giggle a little. Cornelia drank it in a much more dignified manner, and Will and Hay Lin dealt with it in little but fast gulps.

At first none of them felt anything. But then came the heat; starting in the stomach, then climbing by their throats and reaching their mouths. It was a heavy, intense, but pleasant heat. The five girls kept silence after that. Taranee spoke first. "It wasn't that bad…"

"Ha!" exclaimed Irma. "Told you that it wasn't going to happen anything!"

"Well, it certainly wasn't as awful as my mom described it to me" commented Will.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh!" sounded Hay Lin's voice. "Can we have another one?"

Before Taranee or Cornelia could even protest, the glasses were full again, courtesy of Irma. Driving by the heat in her stomach, the girls took their second drinks and swallowed them like before. Not knowing really how it happened, but before any of them cold notice, the glasses were full again; ready to be drank a third time.

Will shrugged. " _Well, how bad could this turn out?_ " thought the redhead.

* * *

 ** _Thirty minutes later_**

In the snowed streets of Heatherfield, only lightened by the lampposts, a Fold opened in space. From it, two figures entered Earth from another realm. The first one was the youngster Matt Olsen. The second was a blond woman quite advanced in years, a sage of Kandrakar and also a former member of the previous generations of Guardians, a woman named Halinor Clarkson.

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?" asked the blond woman to the teen.

Matt nodded. "I'll be okay" he then looked at his surroundings and shivered a little. "But I really wish I had taken a coat or something from Kandrakar…"

"Good luck with that" said Halinor, standing next to the Fold. "In Kandrakar we only use the robes. It helps that the weather is constant, though…"

The pair laughed a little, and Halinor walked towards the Fld. "Take care of yourself boy, and make sure that you talk with the girls. What we have discovered and told you is very important, if not…"

"Yes, I know" commented the teenager. "Good bye, Lady Halinor"

"Goodbye" Halinor said her farewells to the boy and departed. " _Strong young man_ " thought the former Guardian before disappearing inside the blue amalgam of energy that was the Fold.

Matt was going to start walking, when another Fold appeared in the air of the night. At first he thought that maybe Halinor had forgotten to say something to him, but then a familiar figure appeared in the snow.

Matt smirked upon his arrival, and though that his timing couldn't be better. "Hey Caleb" saluted the teenager towards the young man.

A closing Fold behind him, his usual Earth clothing under a thick winter coat that must have been made from some meridianite weird animal fur; Caleb looked surprised at his friend's greeting. The surprise turned out to be well received when a smile appeared in his face.

Approaching matt, Caleb lend the teenager his hand, which Matt shook. "Hello Matt. I wasn't expecting anyone to be out at these hours."

Matt chuckled lightly. "I wasn't expecting to be here either. Come for the Christmas party?"

"Yeah" answered the meridianite. "I was going to come to the dinner itself but, with everything that has happened lately, I choose to stay in Meridian until last moment. I told Cornelia and she agreed that it wasn't the time for me to be here. But I decided that spending some time with her could be good, so…"

"So you are here as a Christmas present? You have to be the sweetest living-in-another-world boyfriend ever" chuckled the earthling.

"Very funny…" commented Caleb. "Where are _you_ here, although?"

Matt's look darkened a little, and Caleb knew that the answer wasn't going to be a rose walk. "Well" started Matt "You see…"

* * *

 ** _One explanation later_**

The two of them sitting into an almost frozen bench under one of the lampposts, Matt had told Caleb about everything that happened during their confrontation with Sylva. His grandfather's demise, Shagon's partial resurrection and even his defeat at the hands of the old man that had presented himself as Ricardo Herbosa, something that he didn't even told the Oracle about. Matt didn't know if the old Spanish man was an enemy or not, but still he was grateful enough to him

Caleb put a reassuring hand over Matt's shoulder. "I'm sorry about your grandfather" said the meridianite sincerely. He, better than anyone, understood what was to lose an innocent and precious life to the delirious mind of a mad man.

"Me too" said Matt, standing up from the bench with Caleb and restarting their walk. "But I can't let that to stop me, or turn me into a monster. I don't know exactly what Shagon did to the girls or to anyone else while I wasn't in control, but I can tell that it wasn't pretty. Gramps wouldn't like to have me like that, sobbing into a corner. He would like for me to step ahead and keep walking… or at least that's what I think and want to do"

The pair continued to walk in the Silver Dragon's direction, leaving behind their footsteps in the snow. After a very short walk, the pair finally caught the sight of the restaurant, and someone parking a car in front of the door. Exiting the vehicle, the two young man's spotted a woman wearing a winter coat of a potent cobalt color that reached almost completely to her feet, that were casted into a pair of winter high heeled boots. Both young men recognized her. It was Cassidy.

"Miss Chackon!" shouted Matt from a distance, waving at her.

Cassidy looked into the direction her name had come from, and after a few second she was able to discern who the two young men approaching her were. Smiling, the woman waved back at the incoming pair. "Hello there boys; merry Christmas!" said the former Water Guardian.

"Merry Christmas." answered Matt to her.

"Merry Christmas, Lady Cassidy" answered Caleb to the woman.

Her gaze lasted more in the last one. "No need to be so uptight with me, really" retorted back the woman. " _Cornelia sure has luck with men_ " thought the former Guardian. A good body shape, a kind heart, a determined mind. And a pair of beautiful green eyes.

 _Her green eyes._

Cassidy dispelled those thoughts from her mind. Now it wasn't the time to have a chat with the boy. "Well, you two really had come in handy, you know" said the woman, starting to enter the restaurant. "Yan Lin called me saying that there is problem with the girls"

" _Problem?_ " thought the two boys at the same time. What kind of problem could have emerged now? If it had been another attack of the unknown enemy, maybe they could give some help. But after crossing the entrance, they discovered that the problem was much worse.

In the main hall of the Silver Dragon, a bunch of diverse objects were scattered around the floor. In the top of the same table that they had used to dine, Will was standing and generating a bolt of Quintessence in her hands. Zapping said bunch of objects, she looked with joy how they came to life and started moving, forming lines like the ones of an army. In the front, taking command over the cans, glasses, forks and knives, was the bottle of tequila, completely empty.

"Now, *HICCUP* march forward *HICCUP* army of the great Tequilius Maximus! Conquer *HICCUP* and take the lands *HICCUP* of the Dragon!" ordered the redhead, while the now animated objects started to move on their own and put little flags with the same branch of the tequila imprint on them over every object they found.

A little separated from the 'army', Irma was sitting in the ground, with Cornelia's head buried in her lap. "BUAAAAHHHH!" cried the Earth Guardian. "I'm so sorry! *SOB* I didn't mean what I said about your brother! *SOB* Our little siblings will make a wonderful couple!"

Irma patted her head in a comical manner. "There, there, Corny" said Irma, her voice transpiring that she was only there in half. "We'll _maaaaake_ them to hook up. And if they say _nooooo_ , we will put them in the same _roooooom_ until something happens…"

Not far away from that, Taranee was writing over the wall with a pencil. "Now, now. Now, now, now, now, now, now, now…" she ended up drawing some sort of weird door. "To Fantastica!" shouted the dark skinned girl, to jump ahead, collide with the wall and fell to the ground. Putting her hands over her head, Taranee looked to the door in the wall, her nostrils expulsing fire. "Damn you Xayide, you witch! You closed the door to the realm!"

The last one was Hay Lin, who was simply spinning, until she made herself too much dizzy and fell to the ground… where she immediately started to spin over her back, giggling without end.

In the entrance, Matt and Caleb watched al of these… _actions_ to happen, mouths fell open, their eyes going from one irrational girl to another, incapable of coping with all the weird things.

"Are… are they…?" said Matt, too much shocked to really end the question.

"Drunk?" finished Cassidy for him. "Completely."

Caleb looked as confused as Matt. "How? Why?" said the meridianite young man.

"I think that emptied tequila bottle that is currently conquering my window has to do something with that" said the voice of Yan Lin; her and Mera coming out of the kitchen, looking really tired. The two asian elders looked at Cassidy and the two young men. "Good that you all came" said Mera. "Now it's your problem, dealt with it, we need some rest" said annoyed the pair in unison, just to disappear by a staircase, leaving the pair of boys even more confused.

Cassidy took and step ahead and clapped her hands repeatedly, aiming to gain the quintet's attention. "Okay, everyone! I think that's time to each one to go home, enter your bed, and wait for Santa like very good girls!" No one of the girls seemed to have noticed Cassidy. She then smirked maliciously and signaled to the pair of boys behind her. "Come on, girls! These two really handsome boys had come all the way to see you! Give them some attention!"

That gained their attention, especially of Will and Cornelia. The redhead jumped from the table's top and ended clashing with Matt in a hug, driving both of them to the ground, with her on top. "Matt!" shouted Will with joy, and while over him, she started to pressure her body against his, burying her face in his chest and moving it like a crazy woman. "Matt! Matt! Matt! Matt!" shouted Will, and after that she started to deliver little kisses around his neck. "I missed you…" said Will, noticing how something rose under Matt's pants and made contact with her butt. "Oh… it seems that you missed me too…" whispered flirtatiously the redhead, making the boy to blush.

Matt, even if with some trouble, was able to make both Will and himself to stand… although he had still to cover his erection, which was pretty hard, considering how Will was holding to his body so tightly that he could _feel_ her female assets pressing against him.

" _Calm down now, Matt. It's the alcohol, not her…_ " thought the young man to himself.

Cassidy gave the teenager a pat in the back. "Good job there, boy" said the former Guardian, just to get an angry Will to jump in front of her.

"Stay away from Matt, Cassidy! He's mine! _I_ want to _fuck_ him!" shouted the redhead, which statement made Matt's face to light up in red like a tomato.

" _Impossible to calm down…_ " thought the teenage boy to himself, both sadly and surprisingly pleased. Well, his lower half was the one pleased, but pleased anyway.

The other couple present at the time was a complete different story from the redhead and the musician. Clinging to Caleb, and making his mind a turbulence of confusion, Cornelia was sobbing over her boyfriend's body.

"BUAAAAHHH! Caleb *SOB* I was so worried about you not coming here! I'm so sorry for *SOB* not being able to present you to my parents… And… and… and… I cannot find Napoleon! *SOB* Oh, Lillian is going to be so disappointed… I'm a terrible big sister…!"

Caleb hugged her tightly and consoled her, albeit his face showed that he was starting to see a little fun into the whole situation. He had been drinking alcohol mixed with water since the Rebellion started and shortly after taking command he ditched it for real liquors, so his body was pretty accustomed to liquor than a man of his same age from Earth. Seeing young people get drunk so easily was something he wasn't accustomed to… and it was kind of funny.

Cassidy clapped her hands again, and directing herself to the two couples (or more accurately, to the boys) she said. "Okay, you two, brave and strong young men, carry these poor girls to their houses." She then looked at the semi-absent Irma and the angry Taranee. "I'll handle these two"

"Sure… *SOB* let's go home…" said Cornelia, getting ahead of Caleb, the only thing missing from her comically sad demeanor being one of those cartoony black clouds, raining only over the sad person's head. Caleb followed right behind her, waving to Matt as a farewell.

Meanwhile, Will's train of thoughts was going rather comically too. " _Carry the girls to their houses… to their houses… houses… bedroom._ " Will jumped and forced Matt to perform a bridal carry for her. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" shouted the redhead. "Come on *HICCUP* let's go *HICCUP* to bed."

Matt, still a little shocked upon Will previous statement didn't understand what Will meant with that choice of words, and headed outside too, his girlfriend in his arms; leaving only Cassidy with three drunken Guardians. She first directed to Taranee. "Hey, Fire girl" said the former Guardian. "It's time to go"

"To Fantastica?" asked the dark skinned ire Guardian. "I want to ride Falkor…"

"Yeah, sure." answered Cassidy. "Hey, Irma! Put yourself together, it's time to go! And Hay Lin…" she then watched as the asian airhead girl got up from her ground spinning and started to walk towards Irma, helping her to stand up. "You can help me with Irma, that's okay, I guess"

With the drunken Hay Lin's help, Cassidy was able to get both Taranee and Irma out of the Dragon; the silhouettes of the sooner departed couples could still be seen in the distance.

While Cassidy was having trouble getting Taranee inside her car because the dark skinned girl was trying to get out at every chance, yelling at Cassidy that she had to save someone called Atreyu from something called G'mork; Hay Lin stood in the snow with Irma leaning on her shoulder.

"Okay, Hay-Hay, let go. I think that I caaaaaaaan stand by my myself nooooooow" said Irma, still not being herself at full.

Hay Lin separated from her and stood by her side. The two of them watched how Cassidy, now with both her hair and clothing being a mess (there were actual burns in the later) finally was able to put Taranee in one of the back seats of the car and put the seat belt around her. The former Water guardian exited the car and looked at the guise of the dark skinned Fire Guardian, who now had started to sleep pacefuly. " _Oh, you have to be kidding me_ " thought Cassidy. " _Yan Lin, you own me a lot of free meals for this…_ "

Giggling, Hay Lin directed herself to Irma. "I think that it's your turn now" said the Air Guardian, her drunken state making, ironically, her voice to sound ratter musical.

"Suuuure" said Irma, finally being able to get a hold of herself and being able to walk on her own. "Tell your family that the dinner was perfect, by the way. Ugh… I'm starting to feel a little tired… Good night, Hay-Hay, and merry Christmas."

What followed was so unexpected, that at first Irma thought that it was a hallucination produced by the alcohol; but both fortunately and unfortunately, it wasn't. Hay Lin got on her toes and, leaning forward a little, put her lips against Irma's.

The kiss wasn't bad. In fact, considering how drunken people tend to kiss each other, the kiss was superb. And of course, for Irma, it felt great. Hay Lin's lips had a strange and sweet flavor in them. And behind that sweetness, there was a little twist, like a little bit of salt that has been dropped in the top of a cupcake that made such a good contrast with the sugar that it's impossible to think of one of them without the other one.

But, of course, Irma's mind didn't stop at complimenting Hay Lin's action. Why? Why now and why here? Was it the tequila? Irma was incapable of really making a logical thought. The mix between the alcohol in her veins, the surprise of the kiss, and the fact that her heart wasn't stopping from yelling at her that this was what she had been wanting for so long was too confusing…

It wasn't that she didn't want to kiss Hay Lin. Truth be told, she had been waiting to do so since… since… she really didn't know. Then Eric came to the picture, and Irma thought " _It's okay, he is nice, Hay Lin likes him, he is good for her_ ". But then Eric went out of the picture, and Hay Lin grew depressed. And Irma had wanted to drown that idiot in boiling water for turning her down. What kind of idiot turned Hay Lin down? She was perfect… and it had been at that moment that Irma realized that she didn't like Hay Lin, but that she was in love with her… a sentiment that the now delivering kiss only helped to cement.

So many questions in her head, unable to get an answer for the moment; because when Hay Lin broke the kiss, Irma was way too much shocked to say anything. The little bubbling airhead smiled at her innocently and then, while getting again inside her family's restaurant, she waved at Irma. "Merry Christmas and good night, Irma!" said Hay Lin before disappearing inside the Silver Dragon.

Irma was let speechless in the snowed streets of Heatherfield, her face a mix between confusion and joy. Cassidy went straight to her. "Your turn now, Irma" said her predecessor. "Irma? Something's happening?" asked the former Guardian upon noticing Irma's expression.

The Water Guardian put two of her fingers over her lips, the mix of sweet and salty still there. The joy overwhelming the confusion, the teenage girl shook her head and walked towards the car. "It's nothing, really" said the girl.

Cassidy looked at the brunette entering the car, then turned around and looked at the now closed door of the Silver Dragon from where Hay Lin had disappeared. She repeated the movement a few more times while the two girls were waiting in the car.

She then shook her head in a very similar manner to Irma; a nostalgic and half happy and half sad smile appearing in her face. " _Now I understand_ " thought Cassidy. Entering the car, she looked at the back seat, where both Irma and Taranee had fallen asleep peacefully. Her eyes gave a special gaze to her successor in the role of Water Guardian. " _You're lucky, kid._ "

* * *

At the Vandom residence, Will's room's window opened slowly, not producing ay sound. In his Regent form, Matt crossed the overture, and kindly deposited Will in her bed. The redhead mumbled a series of unintelligible sentences, the only words that Matt was able to discern being his name, and the world bedroom.

"Matt… in my… bedroom… *HICCUP*" was finally able to say the redhead, her eyes semi-closed and her face blushed, due to both the tequila and the excitement. Matt put a calming palm over her forehead, which made Will to close her eyes and breathe more calmly.

"There, there; my drunken angel…" said Matt with a chuckle, reassuming his human form and sitting in a chair next to his girlfriend's bed. "We don't want to wake up your mom, don't we?"

Will shook her head slowly, indicating that she didn't want to face her mother's anger right now. The effects of the tequila were banishing quickly, and Will was feeling more and more sleepy minute by minute.

"Hey, Matt" said the redhead, almost whispering.

"Yes?" asked the dark haired boy.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your grandfather" Will made a pause to recover her breath; she had a very dry throat right now. "He was a good man… and didn't deserve that."

Matt smiled and continued caressing his girlfriend's forehead. "Thank you" said the teenager to the Keeper of the Hearth.

The two of them kept like that for several minutes. When Matt thought that Will was asleep, he kissed her in the forehead and turning back into his Regent form, he left the room in the same way he had come. What Matt didn't know was that Will wasn't really sleep. She opened her eyes and took a glimpse of the feathery winged teenager while he was crossing the skies.

She woke up from her bed, and dressing off, she put herself into one of her most fresh pajamas. Even with the window still opened (so much for a caring boyfriend, well he had done enough) and the air of winter entering the room, Will didn't feel cold in the slightest. Still, better close the window before going to sleep.

Will lied over her bed, without bothering to cover herself due to the heat of her body. Was that the alcohol's doing? Even her drunken mind had to give a point to that thought. She thought about Matt. And also about the girls, and her family… specially about her father's visit that morning.

But over anything else, she thought about Matt.

The Heart of Kandrakar was resting over her chest, pulsing with each one of her heartbeats; the little spherical pink jewel lighting up each time it pulsed, reacting to Will's pulse.

" _The part of him that fantasies about you being warped up naked in his room; not being able to move meanwhile he uses you_ "

Shagon's taunt during their battle still echoed in Will's mind. A part of her was still a little peeved by the fact that the dammed demon had said that to her. Another part was angry at herself for not being able to talk with Matt about it. And another part, a small but strong and conscious part of her mind, was angry at her… because it really didn't mind being part of those fantasies. And now, with the alcohol in her veins as a splendorous aid, that part of her was getting even stronger.

Her hand started to move slowly but relentlessly towards her lower half. Entering her pajama's pants, Will's fingers reached for her private parts and started to play with them. At first it was just simple petting, but as the minutes went by, the action become more aggressive, her breathing more intense, sometimes accompanied with a moan that get her hearth to jump and the Heart of Kandrakar to glow so intensely that the whole dark room become pink.

Her fingers continued their labor, and when they finally got inside Will's pussy and started to caress its walls, Will couldn't restrain her instincts anymore. Her fingers moving faster at each minute; her mind swimming across a sea of images… that were altering between the ones of matt and, strangely, a welcomed image of Shagon holding her by her throat and forcing her to kiss him. A burning sensation started building up inside her body. Small at first... but then the feeling grew bigger, bigger, bigger…

"AAAAHHHHH!" shouted Will in ecstasy, her juices dirtying her fingers, hand, pants and blanket. The Heart of Kandrakar glowed again, and Will could feel how a few bits of Quintessence sparkled in her hand and pleasurably made contact with her vagina.

The orgasm was both pleasant and welcomed. Sweating, and feeling like cold was something that someone had invented, Will rose from her bed and got to the window again. Opening it one more time, she sat in the border of the overture and, inhaling the cold air into her lungs, she smiled vividly to the stars of the sky and the snow covering the streets. The drunkenness was still there, but now it was mixed with a much pleasant and invigorating feeling.

" _Stupid Matt_ " though Will, heading for her bed. Again over the furniture, the teenager couldn't resist the urge to start to play with herself again. Ditching her pants away this time, she sprout her legs wide. " _I really_ *MOAN* _wouldn't mind_ *MOAN _* if you wanted to play rough someday…_ "

* * *

Flying through the dark skies of the night, Matt reached the flat he and his grandfather lived in… now just occupied by himself. Situated in the top of the pet shop (which Matt was surprised to found quite organized) the flat was quite simple. Pair of bedrooms here, a small kitchen, a bathroom… not even a living room. And now all of them were completely empty, waiting only for him.

Sighing, Matt (now again in his human form) went to the bathroom and took a shower. Even at those hours at night, the warm water of the shower was good to calm him. He wasn't expecting that the girls would be like that. Sighing, he excited the shower and, warping only his lower half into a towel, he headed to the kitchen. There he started to pull out a milk bottle and a can full of coffee powder. And so on, Matt Olsen drak a cup of coffee, just like his grandfather used to do.

After finishing the cup he lean back in the chair he was sitting on, trying to dispel the bitterness of his palate. What the hell did his gramps found tasty about of this?

" _That's it? Remembering better times over a cup of coffee? You really can be pretty pathetic…_ "

Matt looked at his side. In a little mirror that his gramps had always kept in the kitchen, in the same place that Matt's reflection should be, there was now the same image of the smoke creature that had tried to defeat Matt in his mind a while ago.

"Shagon" saluted matt with a dry nod of his head.

The smoke creature twisted, his form in the mirror not definitely defined, its feral features changing at every second. " _How do you know it's me?_ "

"Well, it would be surprising (and actually pretty disturbing) if there were more personalities inside my mind" said the teenager. "So that's how you really look like."

The smoke form of Shagon twisted. " _Well, yes. This is the look of your own hatred, brought to life thanks to Nerissa dearest_ " the smoke creature twisted again, making a gurgling sound with whatever it had as a throat. " _Like it?_ "

"Well, hate was never supposed to look beautiful. So I must say that it suits you."

Shagon's smoke form hissed. " _Stop doing that_ "

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

The creature hissed again. " _Being so naively nice!" shouted the living mass of hate. "If it wasn't for that good nature of you…!_ "

"If you dare to say that my grandfather would still be alive I'll lock you again in that room" said Matt aggressively, which surprised Shagon and made the creature shut its mouth. "If it wasn't for my good nature what? He would still be dead, and Sylva would still be on the loose, because I remember clearly that it was YOU the one that fucked up with that Ricardo guy."

The creature hissed again, albeit now it sounded clearly less angry. " _Why… why didn't you put me into that room again? You knew that I would resurface eventually._ "

"Because, Shagon" started Matt, taking the most diplomatic tone he could master. "Like you just said, you are my hate. Understand? Mine. You're part of me. I won't let you do whatever you want. However… there are some things that we agree upon."

" _Will's safety_ " affirmed the creature.

Matt nodded and continued. "I have noted that… you were stronger than me when you added that 'hate power' of yours to my Regent powers. So, it could make sense that… if we were to work together, we would be stronger."

There it was the proposition, the offer over the table. Now it was Shagon's decision to take it or not. The smoke creature twisted again, something that Matt was beginning to interpret as a signal of its confusion.

" _You want to side with me? Let me control you?_ "

Matt shook his head. "No. I want us to work together, and use you as a last resort when there is nothing else to do. That's the reason I hided your presence and existence within my body to Kandrakar; just for Will's sake."

Shagon doubted, her smoke form twisting again in the mirror, this time slowly, showing his slow thought process. Finally, the demon regained its usual form, and looking his human counterpart directly in the eye, he said " _Deal. But don't take this as a friendly alliance. In the moment I see that you aren't strong enough, in the moment I see that you aren't able to protect her, that you are going to whine and fail… I will take control again, and this time there won't be any over the top geezers to save you_ "

And then the smoke creature disappeared from the mirror, leaving only Matt's own reflection. " _Well, it went as good as possible. I didn't think that he would cooperate so easily_ " thought the teenager. Matt rose from his seat and headed to his room, satisfied. He would speak with the girls when it was necessary. For now on, everyone needed to rest for the next day.

* * *

Speaking of rest that was exactly what Elizabeth Hale found her daughter doing into the family's couch when she woke up due to the noise coming from below. For the matriarch of the Hales, who was used to a tranquil and dignified life, seeing her eldest daughter, her hair totally messed, and snoring next to her boyfriend didn't look well into her eyes.

"I'm sorry." said Caleb as an apology. "She started to feel down while coming here and… well, the moment she sat at the couch she just… dropped her head, and…"

Elizabeth Hale held a hand and silenced the meridianite boy. Harold was starting to appear from the corner of the living room's entrance and while Elizabeth positioned herself near to Cornelia, the patriarch of the Hales put himself at Caleb's side.

Elizabeth sniffed the air. "Is she… is she drunk?"

"Yes" assured the young man. "I think that she had entered the part of drunkenness when your body ask for sleep. It was nothing really bad, though. Just a pair of glasses, according to what I saw when I get there."

Elizabeth stroked her daughter's hair and sighing, looked back at Caleb. "Thank you for taking her back here."

"You're welcome" answered the young man.

Walking towards the door, Caleb was interrupted by Harold. "You're Caleb right?" the young man nodded, which made the middle aged man to smile, making his moustache twirl a little. "I think that you just won a couple of 'boyfriend points' over my wife there"

Smiling back, Caleb made a little bow as a farewell and exited the house. In the street, making sure that there wasn't anyone to watch him, he pulled out Blunk's Tonga tooth from his pocket and used it to fold back to Meridian.

However, before going inside, his eye caught the glimpse of a little silhouette that, jumping, landed at his side. "Hello, boy" said the silhouette, which's voice Caleb recognized.

"Napoleon" said the young man to the black cat. "Where have you been? Cornelia was worried about you!"

Napoleon moved his head in enjoyment. "Oh, you know. You spent time with your lady… I spent time with _mine_ " and with that sentence, Napoleon got inside the Hales' house.

Caleb sighed. "I swear, even the animals from this world are strange." thought Caleb while entering the distortion on space, which closed after he passed. " _Well, on the bright side, I'm glad I didn't drag my dad into this…_ "

* * *

 ** _December 25. Christmas morning._**

The morning of Christmas was, as always, pleasant for the majority of Heatherfield's youth. Many got up early in order to unpack their presents, eager to know what had been delivered to them. Even with the first hangover of their lives, the Guardians could still enjoy Christmas, albeit more than one of them got a good reprimand from their families, whether by had being caught in their drunk-sleep or being caught in the morning trying to put in the washing machine a bunch of blankets dirtied in shame.

But that wasn't Irma's case. The brunette Guardian was actually walking Heatherfield, in the direction of the Silver Dragon. In her hands there was a tinny, rectangular present covered in pink gift-wrap.

" _Okay, this is easy_ " thought the Water Guardian while getting closer and closer to the restaurant with every step she made. " _Just go there, give her present, and talk to her about… about the… thing that happened last night. There, it's just so easy and…_ "

Irma stopped thinking when she almost slammed her head into the door of the restaurant. " _Well, not going back now._ " Giving a strong breath, she entered the restaurant.

The Ling family had seen better times. They were all cleaning the mess of the previous day, but Irma could feel a strange pressure in the air. Looking around, she noticed the somber gazes, and the fact that Hay Lin was nowhere to be seen.

"Uhm… Hello? May I… come in?" asked the brunette.

Irma noted how all the gazes focused on her. Mr. Chen's, Mrs. Joan's; Mera's and Yan's gazes. It were the elders' the ones that lighted up upon seeing her. "Well, funny thing to say when you have come inside already" commented Mera Lin.

Irma blushed a little. "Sorry. If I have come in a bad moment…"

"Oh, no, no, please." said Yan Lin. "You couldn't had come in a better moment. Hay Lin is upstairs."

"Mother…" commented Chen, but got silenced by his 'aunt'.

"Believe me nephew" said Yan Lin's twin. "My sister has spoken a great truth."

Not knowing really what was going on, Irma headed upstairs. "Geez _, what's up with these people today?_ " thought Irma while searching for Hay Lin's room. " _We didn't even make really a great mess yesterday… Oh_ "

Irma had arrived at Hay Lin's bedroom and opened the door, like she had done so many times before. But this time she wasn't been greeted by Hay Lin's stuffed animals and her cheer attitude. This time the whole room as a mess, the stuffed animals lying on the ground, some of them almost tear up.

Sitting in her bed, her face buried in her scared hands, was Hay Lin. Next to her was one of her still unpainted canvas. It had a few marks of paint over it, but they were extremely intense, more like stabs that brush strokes.

Irma walked towards her friend. Putting a hand over her shoulder, she made Hay Lin to raise her head. It was clear that she had been crying.

"Hey, Irma, how are you?" asked the chinese girl between sobs.

"Hay-Hay…" Irma started, looking around the room. "Hay Lin, what the hell happened here?"

Hay Lin raised her hands; her scarred but still functional hands… Or at least, functional to do the 90% percent of what a human being could do. That didn't include painting.

"I… I can't…" Hay Lin broke to crying. Irma sat by her side, and putting her present over the bed too, she put a hand over Hay Lin's back.

"What's wrong?" asked the Water Guardian. "Please, tell me."

"I can't paint." said Hay Lin. Her voice was cold and dry. The sentence felt like being hit by a stone. "I wanted to draw something… but it's like I can't use the proper strength to… My dad has said… that my hands had some blood-pressure problem that affects the nerves and… I can't paint anymore…" Hay Lin got to her feet and all of a sudden, kicked the almost empty canvas, sending it to the ground alongside the easel that was holding it. "I can't even hold the fucking brush! And they want to send me to a therapist! Well, maybe I'm just that insane, don't you agree? Hahahahahahaha! Ha… Ha… Ha…"

Irma looked at Hay Lin, and with determination, got to her feet and put the easel up again, putting a new, white and pure canvas in it. Sitting in a chair in front of the canvas, Irma made a gesture to Hay Lin. "Take a brush and sit in my lap"

"Irma I'm not in the mood for jokes or…" started Hay Lin, but Irma shut her up.

"Take a brush. Sit on my lap. And paint, I'm going to help you, okay?" assured the Water Guardian.

Not wanting to really displease Irma, Hay Lin did as said. Taking her favorite brush in her hand and holding a palette full of colors with the other one, Hay Lin sat in Irma's lap, almost parodying a child that sits on her mother's.

Even if she was trying to not let it be seen, Irma could note how Hay Lin's hands were trembling, unable to hold both brush and palette with enough tension to paint properly. Good thing that she had something to help with that.

Putting each of her hands over Hay Lin's she started to concentrate, closing her eyes. "Paint, Hay-Hay."

"Irma, I told you that I can't…"

"Remember when you painted Meridian for that 'Xanadu' themed contest?" asked Irma, to which Hay Lin nodded. "You said, back then, that even in the worst of situations, when it looks that there isn't more hope, there's always a light, even if it's small. If you still believe in that…" Irma's touch over Hay Lin's hands become warmer, Hay Lin could feel it. "Please, for me, paint like you always do. Because it doesn't matter how many more times you fall, you will always get up again. So, no more tears, no more frowns. I know that you are strong… and I always be right behind you."

"But you have to close your eyes, okay?" said Hay Lin.

Irma chuckled. "Okay, I promise not to look. I know how angry you get when someone sees a painting that you haven't finished."

So, Irma closed her eyes and let Hay Lin start to paint. The Air Guardian wanted to show to her fiend how pointless it was, but surprisingly, she found herself painting normally. "H-How?" asked Hay Lin. "I wasn't able to make a movement before, but…"

Irma rubbed her chin with Hay Lin's back. "Blood is water too, isn't it?" said the brunette. "I supposed that, if that's the case, I should be able to control blood too. And if the problem with your hands is that they cannot work like they should… well, I just have to make them do it. So, what do you say to that?"

Hay Lin chuckled. "I say that that's pretty well thought for you"

Irma puffed Hay Lin's neck's back. "Hey! That's not fair!"

Hay Lin laughed. "It was just a joke, Irma. Now, I think that…"

Irma noted Hay Lin's hands moving again, this time fast, precise and swiftly. Almost like a surgeon, Irma could feel Hay Lin's movements, the brushstrokes getting more and more enthusiastic with each one that the Air Guardian delivered. However, with the pass of the minutes, the brushstrokes started to become calmer, and nicer. The swift and fast movements of a surgeon gave way to the kindly and lovable petting of a mother. And so, in no longer than an hour, Hay Lin gave birth to a new painting.

"Okay, I'm done" said the Air Guardian. "I think that you can open your eyes now, Irma"

Irma opened her eyes slowly. It took a little for her eyes to get used to the light of the room again. Then she focused in the painting in front of her. And in it, in the canvas, she saw her very own auburn hair, her very own eyes, her very own clothes and body. There painted over the canvas, was Irma Lair, smiling.

"But that's just me, Hay-Hay." said Irma, plainly, tilting her head and making it rest gently in Hay Lin's shoulder.

"No" negated the Air Guardian. "That's not _just_ you. That's YOU. Someone like you…" Hay Lin made a pause and let a breath that not even she was aware of been holding free. "Someone like you can't be a simple ' _just'_."

Irma let time pass a while. Then, she took the present that she had left over the bed while Hay Lin was painting. "I… had something for you too. If you want it, of course, because…"

"Oh, stop being silly and gave it to me!" cheered the Air Guardian.

Irma couldn't resist and gave Hay Lin her present. She unpacked it like a rabid child would do, and after finally getting away with the last bit of paper, she held it in her hands, looking at it delightfully. In Hay Lin's hands was now a simple silver photo frame. But the important thing was what kind of photograph was inside said frame.

In it, there were two little girls, no older than five years old, the two casted in a kindergarten uniform. The two of them wearing pigtails, one was looking at the camera smiling widely, while the other one was just sucking her thumb and carrying a teddy bear with her. There, a memory from the past shared by both of them; both Irma and Hay Lin, when their parents had taken a photo of the two while they were just children.

"Ha!" exclaimed Hay Lin. "Long time no see this one… we were super cute, don't you agree?"

"Yeah" said Irma. "Found it the other day, and I thought that it could be nice to give it to you as a Christmas present."

The two of them felt silent for a while. With every second, Irma's arms tighten and closed more and more over Hay Lin's body, and the Air Guardian started to relax her body into said grasp. It wasn't an uncomfortable or unpleasant silence. It was peaceful and invigorating. Finally, Hay Lin made the question that Irma was expecting with both awe and fear. "Since when?" asked Hay Lin.

Irma shrugged. "Since always, I think. I suppose that you could say that it has been since that photograph was taken but… no, I suppose that it's because of the buildup. Who knows? Maybe if we hadn't become Guardians in the first place I would never have known what the hell this was…"

Hay Lin giggled. But it wasn't her usual giggle. It sounded much more sarcastic. "I suppose that it's the same for me..."

Irma tilted her head again. "And Eric?" asked the Water Guardian.

"Eric was good, really" answered Hay Lin. She got up from Irma's lap and kicked a stuffed bunny that was in the ground after walking a few steps. "He was nice with me when I really needed it, and I thank him for that. And we laughed together and he liked me even when there were so many other people around, and that was nice… but then he left, and I don't want for anyone to misunderstand, I really was sad for that, but I was also a little ratty because…"

"Because you didn't like him in the same way he liked you. You weren't sad because he wasn't there but because you really weren't affected by him not being than you supposed to be" said Irma, realization finally hitting her.

Hay Lin nodded. Then she turned around and looked at Irma. "But there were you. Always funny, always strong, always encouraging; and then you brought that bottle and… and…"

Irma got up too and took Hay Lin's scarred hands. "And you kissed me."

Hay Lin giggled, this time with her usual tone. "Don't say it like that. You make it look like you aren't worth kissing of something, Irma."

Irma was the one lo laugh now. She had been looking at Hay Lin's hands for the entire time since she had gotten up from her seat. Caressing them with her fingers, the Water Guardian's heart was a storm of so many feelings that she noted how the blood in her veins was starting to boil.

"Irma" said Hay Lin. "Irma, look at me."

Irma didn't answer. She kept looking at Hay Lin's hands.

"Irma, please."

Irma raised her head slowly. When finally up, she was looking straight into Hay Lin's eyes. She noted that, even now, she was still a little bit taller than the asian girl. But that didn't matter. For a moment, nothing mattered, nothing was important, save for the two of them. Hay Lin smiled, and for Irma it looked like a star was shinning directly thought that smile. Then the Air Guardian said the words.

" _I love you_ "

This time Irma was the one to start the kiss, and in contrast to her, Hay Lin didn't hesitate like the brunette had done the night before. She joined it, and this time, the flavor wasn't sweet or salty, but indescribable. The kiss this time was long, and when one of them looked like she was going to broke it, the other one pulled her tighter impeding her to go, and so on.

When the kiss finally broke, both girls were almost breathless. But that didn't matter, they eyes were shinning. Both laughing and almost crying in joy, the two girls hugged each other tightly.

"Merry Christmas, Irma" said Hay Lin.

"Merry Christmas, Hay Lin." Said Irma, and the she gave Hay Lin a little kiss in the neck. "I love you too."

" _Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love._ " Hamilton Wright Mabie

* * *

 **Author's Notes: There it is! Hope you enjoyed this one. This was a Christmas Carol, the third part of the Riddle Arc. I also could have titled this episode as the "Fanservice Episode" or the "Mix of feelings Episode"… But I think that, if putting an alternative title to it, it would be "Humans".**

 **One thing I would never forgive to the W.I.T.C.H comic books was to not focus more on the teenage aspect of the Guardians more than in a superficial matter. Weisman did it well in the second season, making Will find out that her mother was some sort of an Hypocrite in "H is for Haunted", Taranee seeking a new identity because she didn't like the one she had, or Hay Lin going middle "emo" because her grandma's dissapearence.**

 **I had taken that one step further. What does teenagers do? They experiment with things, because they are curious and they want to know who they are. Failures, alcohol, sex, love, death, knowing that your family is as imperfect as you are… that's part of growing up as a teen. And since the next chapter (which will be titled "Riddle me this") will focus on action, I had this one focus on characterization, both of the protagonist and the antagonist alike. So, next chapter will be a little build up to the encounter, and then the first class of the girls with this arc's antagonists, so, stay vigilant to the updates!**

 **Also, for Irma and Hay Lin, if you have been paying attention to the signals, you may have seen it coming since chapter one. Hell, I had planned to pair them up even since the Prologue! Weisman confirmed that Irma was a lesbian in the cartoon, and since I despise that version's Eric (he felt so… unnecessary in the end) I have the two girls to go and form a thing. And don't you dare to think that this will be a happy ending. As a new couple that had accepted their love for each other, this is just the beginning as something more than friends. There will be as many trials for them as there had been for Will and Matt or Caleb and Cornelia.**

 **That's all I wanted to say. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and hope that you'll enjoy the ones to come. See you in the fourth part of the Riddle Arc.**

 **Until then, have pleasant days and nights.**


	9. Chapter 9: Riddle Arc Part IV

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH; it's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **A/N: I'm alive! Yay! Well, here we are; fourth part of the Riddle Arc, which is titled 'Riddle me this' because… fun with the arch's antagonist surname. Like said in the previous chapter, this one will feature a build up to the first confrontation between both sides and then it will be a full out on an action battle. Because, if there is something that became better and better with every take in the TV show in contrast with the comics, were the battles. And I swear that I'm going to rise to the challenge of reproducing that! I think that I have written a pretty strong chapter this time.**

 **So, onto the chapter. Like always, enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter nine

Riddle Arc. Part four

Riddle me this

 ** _The world of Earth. December 25_** ** _th_** ** _. Heatherfield's prison. Afternoon._**

Danny Ashford waited whistling in a room destined to hold private meetings inside the prison. While he was quite uneasy of the fact that he had been requested to a private meeting, he was also grateful that he had been separated from the trash that lived there with him. Well, if better thought, he was also part of that trash, wasn't he?

No, of course he wasn't. Of course he wasn't like them; of course he wasn't like that. But there he was, put in the same place than them; eating the same food, sleeping in the same beds, using the same showers. So independently of why and by whom he had been called to that room, he was grateful. Maybe his whole family had been the one to pay a visit to him this time.

Danny laughed at that thought. No, that was impossible; he had been lucky enough to earn a visit from Nigel yesterday. This had to be something else… maybe a psychological evaluation? No, that couldn't be right, he didn't have his handcuffs on, so it couldn't be a psychiatrist, unless he or she was pretty brave… Then who?

His questions were soon to be answered, because in that moment the door of the room opened slowly, revealing the guise of a middle-aged man of regular stature holding a black wallet, with black hair in his head combed backwards and a thin line of facial hair making a modest but elegant beard in his face. Dressed in a formal burgundy suit, the man's deep blue eyes made contact with Danny's, and a satisfied smile appeared in his face.

"There he is, Mr. Doomstad." said a guard trailing behind the man in the burgundy suit. "Are you sure that you don't want to me to stay and…"

"No, that wouldn't be necessary" said the blue eyed man. "I won't need any assistance. And it's 'Doctor' Doomstad for you."

The guard snarled in disapproval, but he obeyed; which was quite strange. Whoever this man was, he was powerful enough to do something that no other could do in that prison. That could mean either good or bad news for Danny, depending on how he unwrapped in the meeting.

The man of the burgundy suit, (Doomstad had called him the guard) sat in the chair that was in front of Danny's. Separated only by a messy and poor cleaned iron table, silence took hold of both of them, while the man started to pull out various sets of papers from his wallet and putting them over the table.

"You know, it's not a good idea to put those in this kind of table" said Danny. "They could get dirtied."

The man in the burgundy suit didn't say anything to that remark. Instead, he continued going through all the papers that he had pulled out his wallet, searching for one specifically. It seemed as h didn't acknowledge Danny's presence.

Trying to start a conversation, Danny continued to try and crack the ice. "What kind of surname is Doomstad, anyway?"

The man in the burgundy suit didn't bother to even look at Danny. "It's from East Central Europe" said the man in a cold tone, his eyes still on the papers.

Danny fell silent upon that sentence. He started to tap the table with his hands, producing a deliberately annoying, trying to gain some reaction from his interlocutor. Thing which he, ultimately, didn't achieve.

Now the annoyed one being he, Danny started to take a more 'intimidating' approach. "You know, old man, maybe you shouldn't have let the guard go. Being in a solitary room with a criminal…" Danny leaned forward, playing a malicious smirk. "It couldn't turn good for you…" The man didn't even finch. Instead of answering, he separated one of the sets of papers from the rest. In its front page, it held a photo of Danny himself. And the one to finch was Danny.

"Okay, you weird man, tell me what the hell is this all about or…" started Danny, just for the man on the burgundy suit to finally raise his eyes from the papers. Danny met a set of intense deep blue eyes.

"Or what?" remarked sarcastically the man, smiling sideways- "You will kill me? Like you killed that man?"

The sentence made Danny's face to produce a bitter look. Did this man know? No, that was impossible! No one knew! No one could be able to…! But what if he knew? What if…? "Who the hell are you?" sprouted venomously Danny.

The smirk in the man's face widened. He held up a hand. "I'm Victor Doomstad." said the man in the burgundy suit, but Danny didn't take his hand.

"Uhm, too fast, I suppose" said Victor, taking his hand back. "I already told you two things about me, both my name and its origin. Now, shouldn't you reciprocate and tell me things about you?"

Danny was an intelligent person. He knew what kind of game he was being dragged into. "I'm Daniel Ashford, but everyone calls me Danny. My name is from the Bible. I'm an inmate of this prison." Danny folded his arms. "Your turn."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "So you know how to play." The man put a finger over his chin. "I'm a businessman."

Danny eyed the man. "I'm here because… I killed a man."

Victor leaned back in his seat. He took the set of papers with Danny's photograph as a cover and started to pass some of the pages. "Yes, so it seems. According to all the paperwork regarding your case… not to add the fact that you confessed…" Victor let the papers in the table again and signaled a certain paragraph. "Here it is, perfectly written. Daniel Ashford; condemned to life imprisonment for the killing of Roderick Huffman, local owner of an antiquarian." Victor made a pause, passing some of the pages. "So, in hopes of gaining some money; you made yourself into said antiquarian and tried to commit a robbery…" Victor passed various pages again. "But Mr. Huffman resulted to be in the building at the moment, and when you saw him, panic got a hold of you, you graved a chandelier and well, you could say that the rest is history, isn't it?"

Danny eyed the man in suspicion, not wanting to answer. Victor closed the file and put it with the rest. "But history is written by the winners, isn't it? And that makes for some events to be… misunderstood."

"I don't know what you are implying, but…" started Danny, trying to get out of the conversation that now he was repenting from had started.

"I'm _saying_ , not _implying_ ," interrupted Victor "that you lied. "You didn't kill that man, Daniel. You are innocent, and yet you are here, being punished for a crime you didn't commit."

Danny folded his arms. "You don't have proofs of that" declared the young man.

"Oh, the funny thing is… yes I have." Victor separated another file from the pile and threw it into Danny's part of the table. "There is everything about the truth of your case. How the robbery went really, who really killed that man… and how and why you took the bullet for him."

Danny didn't want to, but his hand reached for the file almost by itself. Starting to read through it, his eyes started to become wider and wider; and a weird smile appeared in his face. This was it! This was what he had been waiting for, what he had dreamed off!

Putting the file down, Danny was unable to contain the weird smile of his face. "What do you want?" asked Danny to the man.

Victor adjusted his burgundy jacket. "I told you, I'm a businessman. As every businessman, I'm in need of employees. My associates and I have a vacant in our organization now due to a previous member's… recklessness. So I'm here to offer you a job, and in exchange…" Victor tapped the file with his index finger.

"You offer me revenge?" asked Danny, quite pleased.

"Revenge is a sucker's game, Daniel" stated Victor. "I hope that, by the time we finish our association, you understand that. I'm offering you something much more than that a petty vengeance. I'm offering you the opportunity to do true justice, I'm offering you the opportunity to made the ones that had broken and use your family pay for their lies, I'm offering you… _satisfaction_."

Danny pondered it… for about three seconds. After all, what could be worse than being into a prison. "And what will that job be?"

Victor pulled a final set of papers from his wallet. This one dwarfed the others and was covered into black covers. Victor tossed it to Danny, and he took it. In the front, only a word was written.

W.I.T.C.H

* * *

 ** _December 26_** ** _th_** ** _. Morning._**

 ** _Heathefield's Port._**

"So you have such an interesting night, eh Josephine?" asked Sephiria Doomstad to her cat, the feline resting in her head as she had accustomed herself to do. Currently, both human and feline were walking the port of the city. Josephine meowed in her favored spot over the woman's head, in a quite satisfied manner. "Haha!" laughed Sephiria. "Well, lucky you. I had to endure one of those dinners in which Victor and Theo start speaking of philosophy and psychology… I mean, it's not boring at all…" Sephiria made a pause and headed towards one of Victor's ships. "No, I rectify, it's totally boring."

She stopped by the entrance of a cargo boat, full of big containers. Her instincts kicked in, lighting up as a Christmas tree. She could smell the ferocious killing intent coming from it. Josephine twirled over her head. She was afraid. Quite normal, as the thing awaiting them was Victor's pet… albeit he didn't like for her (or anyone else, for that matter) to refer to that creature as his pet. Victor had insisted a lot in how it wasn't an animal, and how he deserved to be treated with respect. Man, she remembered how that thing tore apart Victor's prototypes back at home in Europe, even when he upgraded them with the reinforcement alloys. Good thing that it was on their side… at least for the moment.

Sephiria patted Josephine. "There, there, don't worry" said the woman, calming the cat. "I'm with you. He won't harm you with me here…" The woman stated to cross the ramp that connected the boat to the port and searched for the containers that Victor had indicated her to search for.

"Let's see… container of the NZ series… number 216…" mumbled Sephiria while walking through the sea of containers. "There it is!"

Sephiria and Josephine had stopped by a massive container, the biggest one on the boat. It was black, and said letters and number were printed in its side. Sephiria looked at the screen of her mobile phone. Yes, this was the one. " _Now, carefully…_ " thought the woman. Sephiria directed herself to the container's security controls and introduced a password in it.

After several heavy sounds that indicated the movement of some machinery, the doors of the container started to open. Sephiria looked at its dark insides, her eyes only able to catch what was there due to her enhanced senses.

"It's me. It's Sephiria Doomstad" said the woman, trying to sound polite and calm. "It's time to move."

The form inside the container shivered. Then it tried to stand up as large as it was, but the container was too small for that, so it went towards the now opened door, walking slowly and bowing his head.

When reached the outside, the creature finally was able to stretch and stand as tall as it was. Even taller than the robot that Sylva had nicknamed MKI, the creature was something that, to a human mind, was very similar to the thing that folklore had named werewolf. It was a feral wolf-like creature, with a fur of dirty and dark brown color covering his body. It was standing in his hind legs, and the front ones ended in claws that were too human-like to Sephiria's liking. But the most thrilling thing about the wolf-like creature was its head. I was the head of a wolf, no doubt about that, but it had so many teeth, its canines so long that even with the mouth closed they weren't put out of sight. The jaws of the creature were strong, no doubt about that.

But the eyes were the thing that disturbed Sephiria the most. They were… alive. Now, looking at their surroundings, they weren't exhibiting the desire for mindless destruction, or the need to consume alive the workers of the port. They were… curious, cautious, and analyzing.

Intelligent.

"Humph. So this is the destination that Doomstad boy choose for me?" said the creature. Its voice was like a growl, and quite old. For Sephiria, it sounded too much like the one you could expect from a war veteran. "It really pales in comparison with the fields of your home."

Sephiria shrugged. "Yeah, but don't worry about that. We're staying into a much beautiful place than this. So, wanting to know why are you here, big guy?"

The creature snorted. "Not really. I have been fighting since the moment you two brought me back, so I suppose that I will b fighting again." It sniffed the air, letting all the odors to pull into its nostrils. He recognized much of them, but there were some that he didn't recognize. It made the creature's heart to finch a little. Finally, the thrill of the unexpected… and then it smell _them_. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind. The heirs of the Four Dragons… and _her_. It was hard to notice, but below the insufferable stink of Quintessence… there it was; the scent that marked her as the offspring of the Count. " _I will live up to my word_ " thought the creature. It licked its lips. It had been more than millennia since he engaged in combat with Nymphs.

Finally, after all those centuries spent under tons of rocks and dirt, it was the moment to move again, to confront the adversaries again. The creature shook the dust from its body and looked at Sephiria. "Could you guide me towards that place you mentioned?"

"Sure. That's why I'm here." answered the woman. Starting to walk in front of the creature, she held a shivering Josephine in her arms, clinching the animal to her chest. " _Victor, I hope that you know with whom you are involved into. This thing… it doesn't look like something that likes to take orders from humans._ "

* * *

 ** _At midday._**

 ** _Villa Ludmoore._**

If there was something for what Theodore Riddle was known about, (or at least to the few people that really knew him) was his punctuality. So for Victor and Sephiria, who had known Riddle for more than two decades; it wasn't surprising that he looked at them with a soft but still prominent frown when the couple entered the room that they have designated to their meetings.

"You two are late" stated the bald man, sitting at one of the three sides of one average, triangular table, resting both of his hands on the wooden furniture. Both Victor and Sephiria took their respective seats in the two remaining sides of the triangle, Victor crossing his legs and interspersing his fingers over them; while Sephiria opted for much more relaxed posture, her arms behind her head to hold its weight.

"Well, I got an excuse!" said the black-haired woman. "It's not very easy to bring a giant _werewolf-thingy_ from the ports to here without being seen, even with Victor's holographic devices…"

Riddle raised one of his thick brown eyebrows. "Werewolf-thingy?" asked the bald man; not trying to hide the little twist in his lips that almost formed a funny smile.

"Sephiria, I have told you that he has a name" said Victor, followed by a sigh.

The woman eyed her husband, her smile as wide as a cat. "Oh, yeah? Well, I suppose that's improper of me for not remembering. So… what's your excuse, Victor?"

The man in the burgundy suit shrugged. "I have been busy with our new associate's… upgrades" said Victor into a cold tone.

Sephiria directed her feline grin at Riddle now. "Well, I suppose that's excusable. I hope that he doesn't turn out like our last associate, eh Theo?"

"Sephiria…" replicated Victor, but Riddle dismissed it with a head movement.

"I must admit that, even with the totally welcomed results that his actions resulted in, Sylva proved to be too much…" Riddle selected cautiously his words "impulsive to the task he was given."

Sephiria snorted, her arms abandoning the back of her head and folding over her bust. " _Nice way of saying that he blew up hundreds of people_ " thought the black-haired woman.

"But I suppose that our new incorporation would be better than him in every way, don't you agree, Victor?" continued the bald man, giving no attention to Sephiria's change of position from a relaxed one to a defensive one.

"Indeed" answered the burgundy-dressed man. "And in contraposition to Sylva, he shares our distaste for these _Guardians_ , meaning that his motivation is exactly the same as ours." Victor made a pause, and then added "And he has been responding quite positively to the treatment… That's something no one before him has been able to do in such a short timeframe."

Sephiria smiled warmly upon that remark, and Riddle looked pleased. "Then everything is settled" said the psychologist. "I think that we should announce The Institute to the public tomorrow. If we stick to the plans we should be able to have completed the next phase over New Year. So for the time being…" said Riddle, rising from his seat and directing one last gaze before his departure to the couple that had spent so many years beside him. "Make sure that you are prepared for the first contact."

Sephiria stretched herself and cracked her neck. If there was something that she badly needed, was some exercise. As for Victor, he just maintained his position, calm and collected as always, his mind calculating the seventeen different outcomes that his speech to the cameras and the masses tomorrow could have.

* * *

Outside the mansion, over the field of blue roses, the wolf-like creature sniffed the air again. The direction of the wind had changed abruptly, meaning that a storm was approaching the city. The creature rose as tall as it could over its hind legs and blasted a loud roar to the darkening skies. At the border of the cliff that the field of impossible flowers and the mansion were standing, the waves of the sea could be heard clashing violently with the stone, as if they were reacting with fear and anger towards the creature's roar.

A declaration of war.

Floating over the mansion, trying to remain undetected, Ricardo Herbosa looked at the shape of the creature. He knew about its connection to the Abyss… he could _feel_ it. But just in the same way, he knew that it wasn't a Hierophant. Similar, but not the same; it lacked the same sensation of… _unnatural_ power that a Hierophant displayed and deployed. And if it wasn't a Hierophant, the White Queen wouldn't let him intervene. Those girls, and the boy and the animals… were alone… " _For the moment_ " added the man mentally.

Ricardo looked at the darkening sky. " _Mal augurio_ " he thought. He then prepared a teleportation spell. " _I wonder_ " thought the elderly Spanish man. " _Can you fight this enemy with the same strength and conviction you faced the previous ones? Can you retain your humanity while battling or…_ " Ricardo clapped his hands, and a green light started to engulf him, taking him away. " _Would you become the same thing you hated not so long ago?_ "

* * *

 ** _December 27_** ** _th_** ** _. Afternoon._**

 ** _Two girls under an umbrella._**

Walking under a heavy rain, the bodies of Irma Lair and Hay Lin were clinging so tightly to one another that, if looked from the distance, anyone could have mistaken them as the very same person.

The drops coming down from the sky impacted over the umbrella's fabric, making bold sounds over it. "Well…" aid Hay Lin. "It could be a worst scenario for a first date."

"Yeah" answered Irma. "At least a tsunami isn't approaching the city."

Hay Lin chuckled. "A tsunami?" asked the asian girl.

Irma shrugged. "I don't know; you said worse…" Irma sighed. "I hate raining… Why is it raining anyway? We are in late December! Shouldn't be snowing?"

Hay Lin made her shoulder collide with Irma's in a friendly manner. "You know, for being the Water Guardian, you really don't like being soaked" said the Air Guardian, which earned a smirk from Irma.

The two of them bend a corner and directed themselves towards a café, the same one the quintet had visited after ending school. Entering it, Hay Lin went to ask for their order, while Irma closed the umbrella and put it in the establishment's umbrella stand. Sitting in a table, the two girls enjoyed their respective cups of chocolate. Dense and almost black for Irma; mixed with warm milk for Hay Lin.

"You know, I really wonder why we didn't order coffee if we just drank tequila the other night" said Irma. "Caffeine can't be worse than alcohol, right?"

"I don't know, really" commented Hay Lin, taking a slurp of her cup. "Considering how bad we ended…"

"We didn't end badly. In fact we have ended way better." Commented the brunette, taking a big gulp.

"Yeah, but that's the two of us. Taranee is thanking every god in existence for not being grounded… and every time I ask Will what happened to her, her voice shrinks and she changes the theme of the conversation so fast that I can't understand what she is saying! And were you and Cornelia really implying that you should make your siblings…"

"Okay, I get it!" said Irma, raising her hands in annoyance. "It seems that you are going to be the rational part of the relationship."

"Nah, just liking to mess with you" said Hay Lin, taking another slurp. "I like when you are the one reacting to the jokes."

The two of them continued to drink. "So, we are a couple now? Should I call you girlfriend? Should _you_ call me girlfriend?" asked Irma.

"Why don't you continue calling me Hay Lin?" said the Air Guardian, taking a little gulp. The way she had done it made her look way to refined.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" Irma made a pause and, putting her cup over the table, she took a large breath. "I do still not believe that this is happening…"

"Well, it is happening" interrupted Hay Lin, putting her own cup down and taking Irma's hands. "So stop doubting it. We are together now, okay?"

"Okay" said Irma.

"Geez, _you_ are making _me_ sound serious…" said Hay Lin. A playful smirk appearing in her face, she added. "Girlfriend"

Irma couldn't suppress a laugh. After a few seconds, Hay Lin joined in, and the two of them burst in such laughter that they gained both annoyed and curious looks from the rest of the customers. The girls put their hands over their mouths, suppressing their laughter.

After finally being able to calm down, the two of them paid their drinks and headed towards the entrance, Irma taking her umbrella once again. "So…" she heard Hay Lin behind her, opening the door to the rainy day and opening said umbrella. "When are we going to tell the others?"

Irma shrugged. "I don't know. I know they deserve to know, we are their friends and they are ours… but seriously, I don't know how to deal with it."

"Oh! I know!" said Hay Lin cheerfully, entering under the umbrella and putting her arms around Irma's left one. "Leave it to me; I know how to do it!"

Irma chuckled, and held Hay Lin closer. Even with their coats, she could feel how much warmer it made her to have her at her side. "Okay, little airhead, we'll do it your way."

Hay Lin giggled in her usual, childlike manner. That was one of the things that astonished Irma about her. Hay Lin could be childish, bubbling, and cheerful to such an extreme that it could be annoying to most people. But Irma knew better. She knew that behind all that bubbling and giggling (which didn't bother her, in fact, it was one of the reasons behind her love for her) was a capable, reasonable and brave woman.

"Little airhead? I should call you little bubble then?" asked Hay Lin.

Irma smiled at her. "Little bubble?"

"Yeah!" answered Hay Lin. "Because your element is water, and you are soft, and funny, and…!"

Irma pressed her lips against Hay Lin's. After the surprise, Hay Lin pushed her lips against Irma's harder, putting her arms around the other girl's neck. Then, Hay Lin's tongue entered Irma's mouth, starting to play with the Water Guardian's tongue. They were so enchanted by the mutual exchange of vocal fluids that neither of them noticed Irma losing strength in the grip of handle of the umbrella, which fell to the ground. By the time they had stop kissing, the two of them were soaked, their hairs so wet that they looked almost like glued to their heads and necks.

"I think that we'll need to change into drain clothes" stated Irma.

"I think so…" coincided Hay Lin, her cheeks blushing a little from the kissing. "Hey, isn't your house like, just around the corner?"

"Well, that's not really true but, it's pretty near…" said the soaked Irma, regaining her umbrella from the ground.

"Yippee!" Hay Lin hugged herself to Irma again, and threw a punch to the air.

Irma moved slightly her head and started to walk. " _Man, only our first date and I'm taking you to my home already?_ " thought the brunette, not without certain amusement. She was quite intrigued into how her family would take it. Hell, she didn't know how she was going to tell them. A part of Irma was afraid of their reaction.

But then she looked at Hay Lin and all preoccupations flew away. And as the couple walked towards her house, not even the deep dark clouds of the sky could darken irma's spirit.

* * *

 ** _The Vandom residence_**

Will was never found of the morning programs that the TV channels displayed during Christmas vacation. They were either saccharine specials of some cartoons that she hadn't seen in her life, or Christian movies made only to be sold directly into DVD form. She could swear, if she changed the channel and saw another depicture of that manger with anther cute baby playing little Jesus, she was going to zap the TV with a Quintessence blast, independently of how much improper that was for a Keeper of the Heart!

She had thought of taking the phone and call Matt out on a date, but every time she tried to touch the thing her head became filled with blurry images of her in her bed doing… _that_. Will shook her head and reassumed her sailing through the sea of TV crap.

Will pressed the button of the remote control, making the images of the TV to change, and right after that scowled at the new motion pictures. In the screen, the insides of the mythical Millennium Falcon had appeared right in front of Will's eyes. In the screen, a sorry excuse of Han Solo and Chewbacca were talking, with Han insisting in that he would have his hairy companion 'there soon'.

"I SENSE A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE!"

"WHOA!" screamed Will, falling from the sofa. "What the hell, Dean?!"

In truth, it was Dean Collins, who had sneaked behind Will and was now taking the remote and changing the channel by himself. "There we go" said the History teacher. "We had enough with Hayden Christensen…"

"Dean!" shouted Will from the floor.

"Oh, hey Will" said the man, lending a hand. "I didn't see you there."

"Well, I think that I was petty visible!" said the redhead, incorporating up, and putting her clothes in place. "What the hell was that about?"

"Sorry, it's just, for me as a fan of the…"

"Okay, I don't want to hear it, I had enough with the entire 'space cowboy' thing" said the redhead, reassuming her place in the sofa. The man gave a sight and sat beside her.

"I still think that you should give it a try…" said the middle aged man. "What were you watching anyway?"

"Nothing" snarled the teenager. "I was just jumping from channel to channel, trying to not land into some Christmas crap when you just popped out of nowhere, shouting behind me!"

"Sorry, sorry" apologized Dean. "But I think that I have found you something different from that crap."

Dean signaled the TV and Will looked at the screen. In it, a oration was being retrasmissed. At the top of a little scenery, a man in a burgundy suit, black hair and deep blue eyes directed himself to a legion of journalists and other attendants. Behind him, an enormous screen awaited to be powered on. A little red-colored bar below him labeled said man as 'Victor Doomstad', head of Prometheus Enterprises.

"Who's that guy?" asked Will. " _And what kind of name is Doomstad?_ " thought to herself.

"No idea" answered Dean. "But he seems important…"

"That's Victor Doomstad, no doubt about it."

"WHOA!" said now in unison both man and girl, this time not falling from the sofa, fortunately.

"Susan!" shouted Dean.

"Mom! What the fuck is wrong with everyone sneaking on behind me today?!" shouted Will.

Susan Vandom raised an eyebrow. "I think that you may want to rephrase that sentence, young lady, unless you want me to clean your mouth with some soap."

Will retailed. "Sorry." The redhead breathed. "Mother, would you be so kindly to explain to me and this god man by my side why you were behind us?"

Susan smirked. "That's better" she cleared her voice while her daughter rolled her eyes. "But, answering your questions, that's the Ph.D. in robotics engineering Victor Doomstad. Heard of the man at work; apparently he is some sort of upper class philanthropist and businessman. Heatherfield Electronics is a subsidiary of his."

"So, he is your boss?" asked Will.

"No, no." answered Susan, taking the third seat in the couch. "He would be my boss' boss. I didn't know he was on the city, thought. He must have arrived lately…"

Will focused in the screen. The man, Mr. Doomstad, had started his speech. His deep voice, plus his calm and collected demeanor gave the man a cold but also rational feeling.

"Many of you know how the many companies and business that conglomerate in the great family that is Prometheus Enterprises work" started the man, his deep blue eyes eyeing directly the cameras, almost like he was speaking directly at the families at home. "How we like to not only take care of our own workers' wellbeing; but also of their families' and their environment; always prioritizing the progress of the communities we operate in over our own personal gain and benefits."

Victor Doomstad made a pause, looked at his side, and then reassumed his speech which a much saddened look. "Heatherfield it's not the biggest or the most important city of this country… many could considerate it irrelevant, or even worthless" Victor made another pause, and slowly, a warm and soft smile appeared in his face. "But that's not my case, our case. For Prometheus Enterprises Heatherfield is as important as are Washington or New York. Days ago this city suffered a calamity, born from the depths of hate and cowardice." Doomstad's voice had started to raise its tone, the deep still remaining, but now letting the calm and rational pass to an echoing tone. "Families broken, people murdered… it's an act that breaks the very basic rules of humanity. That's the reason why, from this moment onwards, and starting with this beautiful and prosperous place; Prometheus Enterprises presents to the denizens of Heatherfield with an institution of public use dedicated totally to the recovery and improvement of this community with the use of the finest technology! I present to you all, citizens of Heatherfield, the instant inauguration of 'The Institute'!"

And then, the screen behind the man lit; showcasing to all the media the brand of The Institute, the side picture two pair hands holding a glowing sphere. "Education, health, public maintenance, public security…" continued Mr. Doomstad. "All of them will have both the Institute's and Prometheus Enterprises' resources as their backups in this city; in order to make Heatherfield glow with glory again. And so, the first act of The Institute will be the immediate compensation to the victims of the terrorist attack that destroyed this city's mall." Another ovation started from the crow of cameras and faces as Victor Doomstad smiled happily at them. "Let's make this city the start of a better world."

The TV retransmission then cut down to some semantics into how exactly The Institute was going to help the city. In the Vandom residence, Dean lowered the volume of the TV after Doomstad had finished his speech.

"Your boss' boss sure seems like a good man…" admitted Dean to Susan.

Susan was rather surprised after hearing Mr. Doomstad's declarations. No one at work had mentioned anything about this 'Institute' thing. "Yes, it seems so. Well, good thing that somebody aside from the ones from here cares about what happened. There hasn't been any news from the Government or something after that disaster…" Susan looked at her daughter, who was still looking directly at the screen. "What do you think about it Will?"

Susan received no response at first. "Will?" called again the Keeper's mother.

"Mom, what was the Ph.D. of that man again?" asked the redhead.

"Robotic engineering" answered Susan. "Funny thing it's that I had heard some rumors about how some of the factories Prometheus Enterprises has on Europe are operated by robots!"

"Robots?" asked Dean. "As in automatons? That's ridiculous."

"Well, you always say that science advances at leaps and bounds."

Dean shrugged. "I'll give you that. So, Will, what do you think about… Hey, where are you going so suddenly?"

Will had sat up from the couch and had started to go to her room. "Sorry, have to make a call, it's very important!"

Susan shook her head, while Dean stared dumbfounded towards the redhead exiting the living room and starting to climb the stairs. "Sometimes I don't know what this girl is thinking…" said the dark haired woman.

"She is a teen, Susan" assured Dean. "It's normal for them to act like this."

Susan sighed. "I think that she is still a little shocked because I found her trying to hide the proof of her… let's say…"

"Masturbating?" asked Dean.

Susan let her breath out. "Yeah…"

Dean got nearer to his girlfriend. "Did you have a talk with her? Not as her mother, but as woman like her?"

Susan shook her head. "No. I never thought of needing to do it so… so…"

Dean smiled. "Soon? Susan, every child gets to grow sooner or later. You knew that this was coming. You should talk to her."

"It's not only that" Susan took a more relaxed position in the couch. "I have been noticing it for a long time, since we came here, to Heatherfield. It's like there is a part of her that I don't know about and that she doesn't me to know about. I try to get to that part of her, but it's impossible. It's like she is trying to get me out of that part of her life with her hardest efforts… I don't like it"

Dean chuckled. "Of course you don't like it. You are her mother, and your instincts told you to protect her. It's normal for you to be worried. But that's part of the growing up process. If you don't let them to keep their own secrets, their own responsibilities, you are mining their self-esteem." Dean opened his hands like some short of showman claiming his public's attention. "That's how your daughter, and every teen, becomes an adult. Take it as the way your daughter tries to be like you."

"If you insist…" Susan stretched herself. Being like her wasn't the best of decisions. Deep down, she hoped than her daughter was a little more coolheaded than her at her age.

Upstairs, Will wasn't using a phone or anything like it; opting instead for a collective telepathy call. Her expression during Doomstad speech had gone from bored to intrigued; and then shocked. It could be wrong but… she just had this weird feeling in her head, and plus what her mother had said about the man… Robotics…

" _It's worth the try_ " thought the Quintessence Guardian before sending a telepathic message to her companions.

It was time for a strategic reunion.

* * *

 ** _Middle afternoon that same day._**

 ** _The Silver Dragon's basement._**

"What kind of name is Doomstad?" asked an irritated Irma. "I mean, seriously? Why not Victor _Kitty-Killer_?"

The five members of W.I.T.C.H. were reunited as they had done on Christmas. Same place, same positions. All the same, except the reason behind this meeting was totally different, and the looks in the girls' faces were totally serious. Also, they were expecting the remaining Regents. With Napoleon here only Matt and Mr. Huggles were the ones missing.

"Aside from Irma's comment" said then Taranee "I think that Will maybe had found something. It's very suspicious that a Ph.D. in robotics of all things shows up just when we had just faced a robot. And for what you tell about him, he has the necessary resources to built it."

"I'm the only one that is pretty disturbed that he has showed up and start helping the victims of the attack in the mall?" said then Cornelia, folding her arms in disgust. "I swear to God, if I found out that he planned that just to get the people to his side…"

"Whoa, whoa; Cornelia, stop there" spoke Will. "I'm not certain if he is really the culprit. It could be just a coincidence and he could be just a good man."

"Will is right" said Hay Lin. "Those also exist. Not every friendly adult in this city have to turn out to be a psycho; or a magic monster."

"It's not a hundredth percent guess… but it's everything we have got" said then the redhead. "We should wait for Matt and ask him if Kandrakar gave any information."

The quintet fell silent. This situation was weird. Even when they didn't know who Nerissa was or when Phobos could send one of his lackeys; they were always expecting the attacks, ready to move. Even if they didn't know where a Portal would appear, or where the Knights of Vengeance would strike… they knew with what they were dealing. But, aside from Sylva… they didn't have anything. They didn't know who their new enemy was, which his, her or _their_ plans were… Nothing, they had simply nothing. It was a very depressing thought; and also frightening, albeit the girls weren't eager to admit it.

"So…" started Irma. "How did you all hanged the hangover?"

Three very weird faces directed their eyes to Irma. While Will's face had started to blush in a manner that made her cheeks of almost the same tone as her hair. Cornelia and Taranee, however, looked just plain angry.

"Nothinghappenedwiththehangover!" shouted Will.

"Do you know how lucky I was for my mother not grounding me for all my life?!" shouted a comically enraged Taranee, her glasses almost dropping from her face.

"You made me embarrass my boyfriend in front of my parents! And if you dare to get my sister and your brother into…!"

"Okay, okay; I'm sorry. My fault about the tequila…" apologized Irma, while at her side Hay Lin couldn't avoid chuckling at her girlfriend's situation. Irma raised a hand and held the other one over her heart. "I promise not to bring any other alcoholic drink to one of our reunions ever so none of you can be ridiculed in front of your family or love interest."

The three girls relaxed a little, but they still looked a little taken aback by Irma's behavior. Then, little by little, each one of them started to chuckle and then laugh. Irma was the best for this kind of situations. If there was tension, if there was fear; only one of the snarky comments of their Water Guardian was enough to get them into a good mood.

The quintet continued to laugh until the door of the basement opened and Matt and Mr. Huggles appeared descending the stairs. "Having some fun?" asked the teenager Regent and band-leader. "I thought that this was a very important strategic reunion."

The girls looked into the boy's direction. "Oh, it is a serious reunion, wing-boy" stated Irma. "It was so serious that we have to remind ourselves that we can still laugh."

When the laughter stopped, Matt took his usual position beside his girlfriend, who still had a little red in her cheeks and looked with a strange smile at Matt. "Hey" whispered the redhead to her boyfriend. "I didn't ask you before. How are you?"

Matt looked at Will. "I'm far better than before; thank you" whispered he too." Then, assuming a normal tone of voice. "So, anything remarkable?" asked the dark-haired teen.

"Not so much" answered Will. "But I had the suspicion that maybe our man could be a guy named Victor Doomstad."

"What kind of name is Doomstad?" asked Matt.

"I know, right?" said Irma in her usual deadpan tone.

"Aside his surname's strangeness" continued Taranee. "Will maybe had got to the right guy by sheer luck."

"Or it could be a trap" said then Cornelia. "I mean, the guy gives that lousy speech in front of all those cameras, it could be a trick to lure us into another surprise attack."

"Maybe…" it was now Irma. "Or he could be just a nice guy. We hadn't discarded that yet."

"What did the Oracle said Matt?" asked Hay Lin.

The boy scratched his head. "Not so much… but whoever this enemy is (be it this Doomstad guy or not), the Oracle said that is someone pretty… skilled."

"Skilled in what sense?" asked the dark-skinned Guardian.

"Skilled in the sense that Kandrakar didn't find anything in Sylva's memories about it. For all facts, it's like Sylva had never knew anything about us."

"That's good. I mean, it's good, isn't it?" asked Hay Lin.

"Yeah, but they insisted to me that extracting a memory from someone is something very, very rare and hard to do." Matt ruffled his own hair. "Which means that…"

"That whoever we are dealing with is someone versed enough in magic or whatever to do that; and also good enough to hide from Kandrakar" ended for him Will, mussing.

"I'm liking all of this less and less with every minute" said Cornelia.

"Speaking of strange and unique powers…" started Taranee. "Do we know what has been happening with _our_ powers? Did the Oracle mention something about it?"

Matt hesitated for a moment, his eyes jumping from girl to girl, his heart accelerating.

"Matt?" asked Will.

"He did" said finally the teenager. "Well, exactly it was Halinor who explained to me why and said that I should be the one to tell you"

"Why?" asked Hay Lin.

Matt's eyes went again from girl to girl, remembering how each one was smiling and laughing moments ago. The teenage Earth Regent sighed. "Because none of you are going to like it."

* * *

 ** _One explanation later_**

"NO!" yelled Irma. Matt had sat down as the rest of them, explaining to the quintet the same that Halinor had told him in the Oracle's behalf. It hasn't been pretty; their faces becoming more and more surprised and araid with each one of his words.

"Irma…" Hay Lin raised her hand in order to touch Irma and try to calm her, but the Water Guardian rose from her seat in the floor and distanced a little from the rest of the people.

"I'm not going back to being _that_ again!" shouted the Water Guardian, eyes closed, arms tensed and hands gripped in fists. She looked in the verge of crying.

None of the others could blame her, though. Matt's explanation hasn't been what they had been expecting. They had been expecting for their enemy to have been blocking their powers. Will was certain that the 'static sound' had been just that…

But the truth had come to be much more terrifying. Time ago, the five girls had done something that none other generation of Guardians had accomplished in millennia, aside from (according to Kandrakar) the very first Guardian generation. They had done something called 'Touching the Dragons'. They had got a glimpse of the power of the Nymph Xi Ying and the Four Dragons from whom the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar and her four companions received their powers, respectively.

At the battle with a two-Heart-wielding Cedric, the girls had used that power to defeat him; to safe their home-world from the reptilian's coils. But in the process, they had almost lost their humanity. If it hadn't been for Matt and the others…

But now Matt had tell them that their powers weren't working bad. That, in fact, it was them who were working bad… or more accurately, their minds. The stress and trauma from that incident had made the girls so afraid of it, that subconsciously, they were limiting themselves. Kandrakar had… _advised_ that the best decision would be to have the girls try and ' _reconnect_ ' with their powers… or even their elemental forms.

None of the girls said anything at first. None of them remembered that experience as something they wanted to repeat. None of them wanted to be back to those forms. To being there and not being at the same time.

"I didn't say that you have to back to be like that again!" said Matt. "Do you think that I liked all of you being like that? Being lost? Being inhuman?"

Irma calmed herself and sat again. But instead of a relaxed position, she hugged her own legs and looked at her side. Hay Lin finally put her hand over her arm.

"Sorry, I didn't want to shout to you like that" apologized Irma. If there really was someone that comprehended what was to not being in control of your own body, that was Matt, and she knew it.

"So, in the end, we were basically restraining ourselves?" asked Hay Lin. "We just have to 'let it go', or something?"

"But what if when we do that we touch the dragons again?" asked Cornelia. "What if we became that again, and this time we don't come back?"

Will shook her head. Too many variables were in play and they were losing focus for it, so she opted for the most logical option. "We need information in this Doomstad guy. For the moment, the best would be to limit ourselves to that."

"When and where?" asked Taranee.

Will pondered for a moment. "I don't really know… has someone their mobile phone at hand?"

Taranee searched in her pocket, and lend Will a white Smartphone. "Thanks" said the redhead.

Will made a few sparks of Quintessence with the hand she was holding the phone, making it come to life. "Hello" said the redhead.

"Hello! My name is Suzy!" said the device into a young girly tone; which made some curious looks to get directed to Taranee.

"Hey, it's a new one" said the Fire Guardian.

"Okay Suzy, could you do us a favor?" asked Will.

"Sure!" said the telephone. "You are Taranee's friends!"

" _Humph… Normally this isn't this easy. God thing she is the technological equivalent of a child_ " thought the redhead. "Okay Suzy, I need you to search for every bit of information about Victor Doomstad or the Prometheus Enterprises."

"On it!" said the mobile phone, it's screen lighting as Suzy surfed through the Internet, searching without rest, helped by some occasional sparks from Will that get her a boost. "Found it! Found it!" said happily the phone. "Doctor Victor Doomstad, born in East Central Europe; father: Werner Doomstad (deceased due to an accident); mother: Cynthia Doomstad (deceased giving childbirth)…" a picture of Victor appeared in the screen, the same man that Will had seen in television, but younger, with more hair in the head and almost nothing in his chin. Accompanying it was a picture of a family of three. A man that looked exactly like Victor did know except with auburn hair, and a woman with long black hair. The couple was posing for a photograph with their child, a young Victor. "He has been defined by the media as a self-made man that puts his genius at the masses' services. He got his Ph.D. in Robotic Enginery in the Technical University of Munich, helped by a scholarship granted to him by the state due to his advanced genius and his family's name. Married to Sephiria Doomstad, whose whereabouts and maiden name cannot be found…" now the picture was the one of a wedding, a Victor that looked like a cross between his younger and actual self, with the thin beard, but much more hair (and in contrast with now, it was totally free and even with a ponytail) and accompanying him was a grinning and happy woman with short black hair.

"Let's see, let's see…" continued Suzy. "Victor made a fortune creating several revolutionary mechanical inventions and selling them to both private enterprises and governments. After several years of gathering money and resources, Doomstad founded his own enterprise, which he named Prometheus because, in his own words: ' _Prometheus was the kind Titan that stole the fire of the Gods and brought it to Humanity. I plan to do the same, always at the service of the smallest of men_ '. And since then, all of the objectives of Prometheus Enterprises are completely dedicated to social innovation through technology; been it with high-technological mechanical implants or the creation of better medical equipment… Whoa! This guy is a _saint_."

"Okay Suzy, that's enough of that." said then Will. "Could you please look for something else? Something related to Heatherfield or something called 'The Institute'?"

"Okay!" the screen lighted again. After a few seconds, Suzy's childlike voice came again. "I cannot found anything about The Institute, sorry… but I have found something about Prometheus Industries in Hetherfield!"

"If it's the relation between it and Heatherfield Electronics…" said Will. She couldn't risk searching for information in her mother's workplace, too risky. She could discover everything.

"No! No!" yelled Suzy. "There is something more! I have found papers about Prometheus Enterprises buying something called… Villa Ludmoore almost a year ago! And there is also something called… Ner… Nere… Nereid, that's it!"

Will sighed. That wasn't anything that could prove… wait a second. "Wait, which one was the last one?" asked the redhead.

"Nereid, a swimming academia who is directly sponsored by Prometheus Enterprises… It was one of their first subsidiaries in America, alongside Heatherfield Electronics!"

Will smirked. "Thank you Suzy. That's all."

"Okay!" yelled enthusiastically the phone before turning off.

"Oh, I kinda liked her" commented Irma.

"Hey girls" said the Will, gaining the attention of both her team and the Regents. Upon seeing her expression, specially the confident smirk, the clouds over their hearts cleared.

"Oh, oh, she is going to say it!" cheered Hay Lin.

"I have a plan" said the redhead, not hiding a satisfied smile at her companions' reaction.

The girls let their bodies to relax a little.

"I love when she says those words" commented Cornelia.

* * *

 ** _December 28_** ** _th_** ** _. Morning._**

 ** _Gates of the Nereid Academy._**

True to its name, the Nereid Academy had a design that made it look like some sort of old Greek Temple. The frontage designed as the Parthenon, pure white as that one was, decorated with sculptures of mermaids and other mythological creatures associated with water. As she was staring at it, Will thought that, whoever had designed it was really an artist.

There was a disturbing thing, thought. The sculptures were designed as if they were playing a story. It looked… _violent_ , to say the least. The sea creatures were running from something that wasn't depicted in the frontage; something that was coming for them from _above_ , engulfed into a ball of immense and pure light.

"Miss Vandom!" someone called for her. Looking directly to the gates and not the ornaments that decorated them, Will spotted Irene Stone coming towards her. Dressed in her civilian clothes, could now focus on her more common features better than she did back at the Sports Center. Her short auburn hair looked really well, and the fact that it was now totally combed into a curly mass of cute bangs in contrast to the straight hair that she wore in their first meeting only made her face to look better. But now that she looked at it more patiently, Will could spot a few freckles in her cheeks and the almond of her eyes wasn't all that intense when seen from the right distance. Irene still was way _bigger_ than her, but… well; it was good to see that there was no one perfect out there.

"Ah, hi Irene" saluted Will with a shy wave of her hand.

"Good thing that you still aren't calling me _first place_ " joked Irene. "Were you looking at the ornaments?" asked the girl.

"Yeah. It's kind of an… _interesting_ picture." said the redhead about the obvious escape that the scene was depicting.

"It's weird, you can say it" said the well-endowed brunette. "Just plain weirdness"

"Oh…" Will noted how her body was relaxing. "Thank God, I thought that it could be, you know… rude to say it that way."

"Nah, stay cool. Many of us call it weird, or ugly. But if you ask Miss Schneider, she would let out a rant about how glorious and symbolically beautiful it is. Speaking of Miss Schneider, I think that she would be waiting to meet you."

The two girls started to get inside the building. Despite its exterior appearance, the inside looked extremely normal in comparison. Well, as normal as a high quality elite swimming academia would look.

" _Girls? You all can hear me?_ " thought Will.

" _Loud and clear, great leader!_ " she received Irma's thought.

" _We are exactly where you said us to be_ " Taranee was next.

" _When you are ready, we will make the move_ " Cornelia thought after that.

" _Just be sure to make the call!_ " came then Hay Lin's thought.

Will rolled her eyes. " _Okay, but remember that we must be quick!_ "

Will and Irene continued to walk through the halls of Nereid, with Will making questions in order to not look suspicious and Irene answering ratter nicely. Will noted how her company looked quite excited about the idea of her joining the academy. Apparently she liked the idea of 'new blood' in the academy and the fact that she could bring a 'puff of fresh air'. Will really didn't want to punch the girl's bubble of happiness, but…

"Here we are" said Irene, signaling a ornamented door with a plate that had the name Anelie Schneider written on it. "I'll leave you here. Watch out what you say in front of this one, though. She is not… very friendly."

Will took a deep breath and started to cross the door. "Thank you" said the redhead.

"Good luck!" desired her Irene before Will saw her disappearing behind her.

" _That girl sure is nice…_ " thought Taranee, and Will could note how there was a little hint of sadness in her mind.

The office of Anelie Schneider was… extremely plain in comparison with the rest of the academy. Just a little bookshelf, and a normal desk, with a computer screen looking towards the seat of the academy's director and girls' trainer. At said desk, sitting in a plain chair and reading from the computer's screen, was Anelie Schneider.

She looked plain too. Will had expected some sort of demigoddess whose body was crafted like some sort of perfect Greek statue… but instead she looked like a regular blond middle aged woman that you could pass by the street. Her hair was so short that it almost looked shaven, and her expression seemed stern and hard. The only thing worthy of mention about her body was her pale skin. It looked like she was sick. " _A life under the chlorine_ " thought Will.

" _I really hope that you don't end with a skin like that_ " commented Irma in her head.

" _Yeah_ " came then Hay Lin.

" _Sure; if there is something remarkable about your body is your skin and your hair. It would be terrible if something happens to them_ " commented Cornelia.

" _Oh, here comes the fashion obsess…_ " said Taranee.

" _Could you four shut up already?_ " thought Will. "I'm trying to concentrate here."

" _Sorry Will_ " came a collective thought of four mixed voices.

My God, having all those commentaries in your head at the same time was really exhausting. Good thing that they didn't use their telepathic link very often. She could just go crazy from that!

"You could have chosen a better attire to come here" said then a cold voice. "Image is something that we value extremely here, at Nereid." Will found herself now eyeing the shape of a totally standing Anelie Schneider, who walked towards her and put hers face at centimeters of Will's. The redhead could feel the breath of the older woman against her skin.

" _Danger zone! Danger zone!_ " thought Hay Lin.

"But since you have been recommended by Irene, who is my best swimmer…" Anelie separated herself from Will and went to sit behind her desk again. "I'll give you a chance. Here in Nereid we believe in equal opportunity, after all."

Anelie moved her hand, indicating that she was giving permission to Will to speak. "Tell me what you got"

"Don't worry" said the redhead, her eyes flashing with greenish energy. "I'm about to do so!"

Anelie Schneider had seen many weird things in her life. But seeing a teenage girl emit green light wasn't one of them. And of course, seeing another four girls appear out of nowhere after that light deemed was even stranger. A brunette, a black girl, a blonde and an asian girl. If she wasn't a calm and

"Wha…?" said a stunned Anelie. "What the fuck is…?" she didn't get to finish the sentence before three of the appeared out of nowhere grabbed her arms and head. How? How were they so… so fast?

"Quick Irma, before she gets to do something!" yelled the black girl, grabbing her right arm.

"Hey!" said Anelie, finally regaining the ability to say something. "Let go off me, you little pieces of…"

" _Shut up_ " said then the brunette in a calm tone, who had come in front of her, the same way she had done for the redhead. She didn't want to shut up… didn't she? Shutting up looked like a good idea now… for some reason. But, no! That couldn't be, it must not be! She had to yell to scream and…!

" _Relax_ " came again the voice of the brunette, and Anelie relaxed, feeling her mind tranquilizing. Why wanted she to scream? She was perfectly fine…

" _Hey, I need you to answer a few questions to my friend Will here, okay? Then we will leave and you won't see us again, okay?_ "

"Okay" came Anelie's voice. It wasn't cold anymore. It sounded happy, or more precisely sweetened. Irma leaved her spot in front of Anelie and the other girls released her arms. The strong woman ad let place to a docile puppy, courtesy of the Water Guardian's hypnotic abilities.

"I'm still not sure if we should be doing this" commented Taranee.

"We have no other option, you heard Will before. We got nothing, no clue" said Cornelia.

"I know" said Taranee, and then directed her gaze to the dull eyes of Miss Schneider. The same dull eyes of the people that, almost two years ago, were under the influence of the Horn of Hypnos, a fate that, sans Irma, they all had experienced. "It still doesn't feel right…"  
"We will discourse ethics later" said Will approaching Anelie and sitting right in front of her. "Hello Miss Schneider."

"Hello" came the sweetened vice.

"I need to know some things about the people you work for. Tell me everything you know about Victor Doomstad."

Anelie's face seemed to convulse into a weird expression, like some part of her mind was really trying not to talk and betray the trust entrusted upon her. Anyway, Irma's power was strong enough to break trhought that will. "I met Victor and Sephitria back in Munich… when we were at University. I was getting married… I was training to be an Olympic… but I ended here."

"Why did you end here? Was it Mr. Doomstad that made you come here?" asked Will.

"No" answered Anelie. "My husband died in an accident, and my son was crippled, unable to move his legs again. Too many memories… Victor offered me a work here. He was kind and Sephiria too; they were the kindest of all them. The others just looked at me with false concern and say that they were sorry. When Sephiria came she hugged me and cried with me. That wasn't false. And Victor arranged for me and my son's move to here. He said that he would help me…"

"Did he?" asked then Will.

"Yes, yes… he helped me a lot. He had a friend here, a therapist, a psychologist" continued Anelie. "He helped us to adapt, he encouraged my son to smile again."

"And in return?" asked the redhead again. "Did you have to do something in return?"

"Well, yes, take care of Nereid… and, of course what Victor asked me to do a year ago."

This gained Will's attention. "What asked he to do?"

"He bought some place far from the city… some mansion in the top of a cliff. He said that he trusted me with the preparations…"

"Which preparations?"

"Workers came in and workers went out of the mansion... They dig the earth, and dig deep. They built something…"

"What?" asked Will again.

"I don't know. I respect Victor's privacy." answered Miss Schneider.

Will pondered what she had listened. It seemed that there was more to Villa Ludmoore that being the Doomstads' new home. Finally, a track to follow; now they only have to do a little more investigation in this Doomstad people and see if they were…

"And then… Victor's friend came to town" continued Anelie.

"Friend? What friend of Victor?" asked the redhead.

"A man with glasses and blond hair. He was nice too. He asked me if I could get him a job at Sheffield Institute with my contacts…"

"Who? Who was he?"

"I don't remember really… I don't think I should be telling you this…"

"Irma!" yelled Will, and the brunette put herself at Anelie's side, touching her shoulder, whispering in her ear.

" _Who was the man?_ " asked Irma, albeit every member of the quintet knew whose name the swim teacher was going to say. Her eyes become even duller, near lifeless, her voice lost the sweetness and become mechanical, almost inhuman.

"Raphael Sylva" answered Miss Schneider.

Irma looked at Will and the leader of the group mad a signal. " _You will forgot everything about this conversation the moment Will crosses the door, okay?_ "

"Okay…" answered the woman, whose body has started to constrain itself, giving the sensation that she was shrinking. The Guardians started to leave. Will would just teleport the others again and exit the office. Then she would just go out the academy and never go back. If she encountered Irene she would tell her a lie of how she screwed up with Miss Schneider or how she didn't meet her expectations…

"Victor and Sephiria…" the girls heard behind them while walking completely in silence. "They are really good people… Victor will made my son to walk again… he promised me…"

And in a flash of light, Will's companions were gone and she excited the office.

" _Will?_ " came then the thought of Cornelia.

" _Yes?_ " asked the redhead.

" _Promise me that we won't be doing this never again._ "

Will looked back at the now completely weak image of Anelie Schneider. A lifetime of pain and suffering really takes its tool over a person. She could she in her face how, behind the hypnotism, the real Anelie felt dirty just at the thought that she had betrayed her friends… and the fact that she won't remember anything about her betrayal, a betrayal that was never her election to begin with.

"I promise"

* * *

 ** _Afternoon that very same day._**

 ** _The Silver Dragon_**

"And what do we do know?" asked Cornelia to her leader.

Will didn't know how to answer. Her plan had sounded pretty good in her head. Get to Nereid, brainwash the headmaster of the academy, get information and then proceed. It was easy right?

Brainwash.

Now they have a clue! Much more than a clue!

Brainwash.

They had Sylva's name! That meant that Victor Doomstad was the culprit! That he was behind all of it, right? Right?

Brainwash.

"Will, was really necessary?" asked Taranee.

"I don't know. I don't know if it was really necessary, or what to do now" said the redhead.

"Where are the Regents?" asked Hay Lin.

"It's better if they are around Lillian. It's their duty to protect her. Victor could be going after the Heart of Earth too. It couldn't be that surprising" Will breathed strongly. "The next step would be going and enter into Villa Ludmoore. Get into that mansion and search for whatever it's inside of it and whatever those people Miss Schneider spoke about built under it."

Will made another pause. "But before anything of that; I want to be sure that everyone of you is okay with doing it."

"You know that you can count me in" answered Cornelia.

"Me too" said Hay Lin.

"I'm with you too" said Taranee, albeit a little more reluctantly.

"Irma?" asked Will to her friend. The brunette had been death silent since they had exited Nereid. Of course it had been hard for Irma. Of course she felt like that. She had witnessed how their friends were controlled by the Knights of Vengeance, and she had freed them. But now she had been the one playing with someone's mind; she had been the one in control. Irma hadn't like it, she almost never used that power, not since she discovered what Nerissa had done to the former members of C.H.Y.K.N. But now she had used it. And she had done it because of her; because Irma trusted Will as a leader.

"What you said to Cornelia about not brainwashing more people" said Irma "You meant it, right?"

Will looked directly at her friend. "Of course I meant it."

"Then…" said Irma. "Then I'll go with you to wherever you say we should go"

Will breathed deeply. Then, the only thing pending was the planning. "Hay Lin, does your grandma, or your parents, have a map of Heatherfield around here?"

"I think that we must have one down here…" said the asian girl, looking at one of the messy lockets that were scattered in the restaurant's basement. "Somewhere" ended the Air Guardian just to go and pick up an old map that covered all of Heatherfield's terrain. It looked old, like some of those treasure maps that appear into some pirate movies.

Will signaled a point in the map, near the beach, but quite far from it at the same time. It depicted an earth end that entered the domain of the sea. Will recognized it. She had seen it from below so many times, when the girls and her had gone to the beach. A cliff were violent waves break against. And in top off it, a black building. A mansion.

"So that's Villa Ludmoore?" asked Cornelia.

"It has to be" said Taranee. "It looks pretty perfect if you want to be in Heatherfield, but you want to stay far away from the curious eyes of the people. Completely isolated… it's the perfect place to use as a base of operations!"

"So what do we do?" asked Hay Lin.

"For the moment? We go home. I want everyone to tell their families that we are going in an excursion for the whole day. If there is any problem, use the telepathic link to tell the others and we will adapt. Then take a bath, or eat, or watch TV… but rest. Tomorrow, I want everyone fresh and prepared to the worst kind of outcome that we can get in that place. And when I say worst, I mean worst. Everyone understood?"

"Yes ma'am" answered her team, with quite the renovated spirits. They wanted to end this whole nightmare, they had have enough of it. So they will fall in line and march as a team towards the adversaries. Not because of loyalty, not because of Kandrakar; but because they were friends.

As the girls get outside the basement and parted ways towards their homes, Will could only thought that a cataclysm would be necessary in order to break their team.

* * *

 ** _At the same time._**

 ** _Under the Ludmoore manor._**

Just like Anelie Schneider had explained, the workers and constructors employed by Victor Doomstad had dig deep in the earth under Villa Ludmoore. What she didn't know was that they had built a quite the spectacular thing under it. The insides of the cliff were now a complete mass of metal; crafted to suit and follow the lines of the earth. An enormous, subterraneous and secret factory. As Taranee had said; it the perfect place to not gain suspicious glares.

And in one of that factory's rooms, the fast movements of multiple multi-armed cylindrical robots were working on something, or rather, someone.

Laying into a cold bed of steel, the small robots were giving the last touches to Victor Doomstad's latest and greatest creation; a revolutionary invention, the first completely functional mix of human and machine.

The body of Daniel Ashford.

Victor was into an adjacent room, dashing through a bunch of screens that showed the scans of the subject's brain and other vital organs. Victor reviewed the data again, and with a satisfied sigh, he leaned back in his ergonomic chair. He had discarded his burgundy jacket, leaving him only in his suit's shirt.

The operation had been perfect. The subject had adapted at his mechanical implants and augmentations pretty well and in a time record. The majority of his vital organs had adapted to nano-machines, and special mention went to his heart, which continued to throb with strength. Which Victor was worried about was the unusual brain activity. He didn't know how the boy could react after waking up and seeing his new form.

"What does that mean?" asked his wife, behind him, always supportive in his most conflicting moments; signaling the screen that showed said brain activity.

"I think that he is dreaming" said Victor. Signaling an specific brain area. "See how this part just lightens as a light bulb? That's his mind producing image sets using his memory and…"

"Okay, I get it. Dream equals flashy lights" Sephiria snorted. "Do you think that he will be okay?"

"I he has been able to come this far, I think that he would be able to endure anything. It's that kind of stubbornness that I was looking for when I get to him, and I wasn't disappointed. Otherwise I could have never brought him here." Victor made a pause and crossed his arms. "He is strong. I gave him a hope spot, and that strength only increased."

Sephiria giggled, gaining a glare from Victor. "What?'" asked the man.

"You like him." said the woman. "You are concerned, and you look out for him. Geez, you almost sound like a father when you speak about _and_ to him."

"Probably…" muttered Victor, smirking. The man of science directed his gaze to the screens again. "He's waking up."

In the adjacent room, the robots had ended their labor. The subject woke slowly and interestingly peacefully. His body was heavier (way heavier) than before, and his breathing was now pretty deep and slow, as if he was breathing under a gas mask… which he soon discovered to have attached to his face.

"Mr. Ashford? Daniel?" came then a voice from a pair of speakers hanging from the ceiling. "Can you hear me?" he recognized that voice. It was the voice of Mr. Doomstad. The man who had taken him out of that shitty prison. The man who had promised him revenge… no, satisfaction! The man who had turned him into… into… _this_.

"Yeah" answered the young man, and his voice sounded way deeper than before. If he hadn't known that he was the one speaking… he would have sworn that there was someone else in that room with him.

"Could you please try and incorporate?" asked the voice.

Danny tried to incorporate. At first he couldn't, his new body mass making it impossible. His torso raised and fell again against the steel bed, with a sonorous *CLANG*. He repeated this movement for fifteen times. At the sixteenth one, Danny finally was able to simply sit in the steel bed, his torso and head up, looking at his surroundings. The cylindrical robots distanced even more from him, letting him more space.

"Now" said Victor's voice again. "If you could please bring down your legs from the experimentation tab… from the bed…"

"You can call it a table, doc. I don't mind being treated like a machine" said Danny.

"I do mind not treating you like a human, Daniel" said the voice of Mr. Doomstad.

Danny chuckled. Or at least he thought that he had chuckled; because he didn't know how to interpret the dry and metallic sound that had escaped from his throat. "Okay, doc."

Danny started to move his legs, his long and heavy legs. Slowly he started to move the right one to the edge of the steel bed, leaving it hanging from it. The left one followed afterwards. "Let me guess" asked Danny. "Now I have to stand up?"

"If you don't mind…" came Victor's response.

Pushing his new hands against the steel, Danny gathered strength and stood up. His feet made contact with the cold floor. But of course, he couldn't tell if the floor was cold or hot. Not anymore.

"How do you feel?" asked Victor.

"Taller" answered bluntly Danny.

"Well, that was one of the secondary traits of the process. Your new you is various inches taller than before. Now, I need you to walk a few steps in order to you to habituate to your new body, understood?" asked Victor again.

"Understood" said the young man.

Walking was a completely different task that from the ones of earlier. Danny really found difficult to move his feet forward. Getting off a table with the help of gravity was one thing; but walking with all the heaviness of his new body… that was just a completely different thing.

So he started easy; just one movement from the right leg; little, short and simple. A little step. Then he started to move the left one. And he fell to his knees.

"Come on, Daniel. I know you can do it" said Victor's voice again.

Daniel wasn't paying attention to Victor's words, though. He was thinking there, kneeled in the floor under the heaviness of his new body, his breath deep, his muscles and strength unrecognizable; he was wondering why. Why did he accept that fucking offer? Wasn't he better in that cell? Why did he…?

" _I did it for Nigel_ " thought the young man covered in metal. " _For Nigel, who came to see me even when he still thinks that I'm a murderer._ "

One of his hands reached for the steel bed and used it as a toehold.

" _For Nigel, who still calls me brother, even when I treated him as garbage._ "

He rose up one feet, then another, until Danny stood up again.

" _For Nigel, who is dating that Cook bitch!_ "

Danny made a step. It wasn't a small one, it wasn't a little one. It was a step, a decisive one; delivered with such passion that it cracked the floor beneath it. Then another one; and another one after that. And like that, Danny found himself in front of a mirror. Well, he didn't know if it was really a mirror or more like a reflective surface, bur his shape could be seen in it.

He didn't recognize himself in that image, he couldn't. His body was covered into thick black metal, his arms, shoulders, legs and chest had several plates over them. His hand ended into such kind of fingers that they looked like blades. And his face… There wasn't a face anymore, not hair, not mouth. How was he supposed to eat? With everything that Victor had done to his body, did he need to eat anymore? Drink, use the bathroom?

He raised his hand and touched his face. The only things remaining were his eyes, albeit he knew that they were covered by some short of glass. And his head must had been shaved, because the mask that adorned it now was completely spherical, making it clear that it was hugging perfectly to his skull. Did he still had skin under the metal? He didn't know.

"How much?" asked Danny.

"How much what?" asked a stunned Victor. He hadn't been expecting for Daniel to make such a fast accustoming to his new body. He was really impressed. And as Sephiria had pointed out, he was feeling proud too. Well, after all his motto was 'Never underestimate human will'; so it made sense that seeing a human surpassing his limits made him feel proud.

"How much temperature?" asked Danny. Victor smirked; he knew what this was all about.

"Your body has been remade with such alloys that it can now resist around 1200 °C or 1300 °C." answered Victor.

"That's very high, isn't it?" asked Danny.

"It's basically the temperature of a volcano, Daniel. And on top of that, you have been equipped with special guns and programming in order to deal with little Miss Cook. Your agility and reflexes should be now increased far beyond the ones of a professional fighter that had dedicated all his life to train and master his body. And the cherry on the top is a type strength even higher than the one of my earlier prototypes. In resume, you are practically unbeatable now." said Victor, with a proud smile in his face,

Danny approximated the bed of steel. With his bare hands he took it and plucked it from the floor. Then he proceeded to crush in such a violent manner than by the end of it, the only thing that was left was a ball of steel not bigger than his head. Danny droped the ball and crushed it with his foot.

" _Sweet_ " said the cyborg, his eyes brightening in awe.

* * *

 ** _December 29_** ** _th_** ** _. Morning._**

 ** _The Guardians approximate Villa Ludmoore._**

Will and the others didn't have too many problems in order to convince their families to let them have that 'trip'. They only insisted into them to be careful and to send some text if they were going to be late. Once the quintet had exited the most populated parts of Heatherfield; they had transformed immediately, and flew into Villa Ludmoore's direction. Reaching it with the sun still not high enough, they descended quietly and graciously over the field of blue flowers.

"Whoa, pretty." commented Hay Lin, picking one of the flowers.

"Don't do that" said Cornelia. "They don't like to be picked out.

"Sorry, sorry!" apologized Hay Lin, trying to put the flower where it stood before; which for her surprise, she accomplished when the stem of the plant reattached itself to the ground.

"Weird…" commented Irma. "Hey Corny, did you do that?"

"No" said Cornelia, shaking her head. "But it was weird"

Taranee looked at the mansion of obsidian walls. "I think that there is nothing about this place that it isn't weird"

Will tapped the ground under the roses. The rain that had fallen yesterday had completely cleaned the snow, and now the five friends were standing on top of a blue carpet. "Hey Cornelia, remember that thing under the mansion that Anelie spoke about?"

"Yes" answered the Earth Guardian.

"Could you search for it?"

As an answer, Cornelia kneeled and touched the Earth. "This roses" said the Earth Guardian, her eyes starting to light green. "They have been here for so long…"

"Cornelia, focus" ordered Will, arms crossed over her chest.

"I can sense something under the earth and the rocks" continued the blonde. "Something big and made of metal; with innumerable halls and rooms… And there is a lot of movement too. I think… I think that it's a factory"

"An _underground_ factory?" asked Taranee. "How can someone build something like that?"

"The same way that you build a robot." Commented the Keeper of the Heart. Will directed her gaze to the mansion. "Let's go inside."

The insides of the Ludmoore Manor were silent. A single soul couldn't be spotted; the most mundane of sounds couldn't be heard. It seemed that the mansion wasn't occupied in the slightest, neither by staff dedicated to cleaning, cooking or undertake another other chore; or by the people that supposedly were leaving in the mansion.

No, the corridors were empty, and so were the rooms. And still, every time one of the girls approached a corner, or one of the massive bookshelves of the ludicrously enormous library; or every time they touched a wall or a piece of the furniture; each time that their skin came in contact with the wood or the stone… they couldn't feel the slightest trace of dust or dirt. Much like the flowers outside, it seemed that the mansion had been built purposely to remain changeless and eternal.

"I'm getting such a 'Resident Evil' vibes from this place…" commented Irma, nerve-racking.

The Guardians continued their trip inside the manor, trying to found an entrance to the complex below their feet. After almost half an hour of traveling, they ended into what seemed to be Victor Doomstad's private art gallery. Full of incredibly well done painting and incredibly elaborated and detailed sculptures; the Guardians found themselves in a room that made some museums pale in comparison.

"Talk about passion for art…" muttered Irma.

"Well, at least the man has good taste" said Taranee; pointing to a piece in the wall. "Look, a copy of " _The Garden of Earthly Delights_ " from Hieronymus Bosch!" Taranee approached the painting. "Or at least, I hope it's a copy…"

"Hey girls, come here for a moment, I think I got something!" said Hay Lin. She was standing in front of another massive painting; this one depicted an almost naked man chained in some manner to a giant rock. Depicted together with him was a huge bird, like and eagle or a vulture, that was preying upon him, tearing apart his belly and eating his insides.

"Gross…" commented Cornelia.

"That's " _Prometheus Chained_ "; from Peter Paul Rubens" explained Taranee.

"Prometheus?" asked Will. "Isn't that Doomstad's enterprises' name?"

"I suppose he named it after him" commented the Fire Guardian, moving aside some of her locks from her face and adjusting her glasses. "Prometheus was a Titan that, in Greek mythology, stole the fire from the Gods and gave it to humanity, which catapulted their lives to a new era. But the Greek Pantheon didn't take it well, and they chained him to a rock where he was sentenced to have his entrails eaten by an eagle one day and another…"

"Jesus Christ!" yelled Irma. "How do you know all that?"

Taranee shrugged. "I like Greek mythology. It's interesting. If you can handle all the deaths and tragedy, and Zeus becoming animals and kidnapping young girls in order to sleep with them, and also all the incestuous…"

"Taranee, not wanting to interrupt you at all; but e have a mission to do, and you are sounding incredibly creepy right now" said Will, making Tawranee blush a little with shame.

"I can feel a current of air behind it" said Hay Lin signaling the painting of Prometheus.

"Let's see…" said Cornelia, using her telekinesis to move the painting to the side, revealing a thick metal door behind it. At the doors side was a little control box, waiting for a code to be introduced. Instead, Will just zapped it with her Quintessence, making the door to open, revealing an elevator large enough to handle the five girls; almost like it had been built thinking about something very, very big.

"I cannot believe that it was that easy" commented Hay Lin entering it.

"It has been too easy" said Will. "Try to not lower your guard. It still could be a trap" said the redhead. " _If it has not been one since the beginning_ " she thought to herself.

The elevator descended tranquilly, the five girls inside it silent sans Hay Lin, who hummed at the piped music that the device emitted. The elevator stopped its movement after several minutes, having descended several dozens of meters inside the earth. The massive elevator opened its doors, revealing the massive entrance to the underground factory.

* * *

"Victor?" asked Sephiria to her husband, both of them in the factory. "Have you received the signal in your mobile phone that…?"

"Someone has entered the factory without permission?" asked the man, sitting at one of the desk, still working in some programming. "Yes" Victor sighed, he didn't like to let work unfinished, but it was time to move. Hopefully, it wouldn't take much time; this was one of the most probable scenarios e had calculated. How had those so-called Guardians found the factory that fast was still a mystery; but he supposed that they had their own resources for these situations.

"Go to the lower levels and bring Daniel up here" said Victor getting up from his seat. "Meet me in the distribution hangar with the finished products."

"Are you sure that you want to fight there?" asked Sephiria.

"One of them seemed distressed by the power source that we use in our machines. I'll use it to our advantage."

"Okay" Sephiria approached Victor and kissed him in the cheek. "Don't do stupid thing until I'm there, okay? That's my job."

Parting with a smile, Sephiria dazed to her destination, and Victor activated a microphone in the desk he had been working for. Speaking through it, his voice reached a pair of wolf-like ears covered in fur of a dark and dirty brown color. "If you were looking for a good fight" said he businessman "now it's your time to shine:"

To which the werewolf-like creature answered with a pleased growl and started to move. Victor made a satisfied smirk. " _Better get a hold of my gravity-disks now_ " thought the man.

* * *

The Guardians continued to walk through the factory. Each time that they looked into one room or another, they saw achiness building other machines, embroiled into a decrepit parody of modern assembly lines. There was no need for workers, the machines made all the work, all the effort. Once they had been assembled, there was no need for human workforce anymore.

And with each nut that was coiled and each nail that was nailed; with each metal piece that was welded into another one, the Guardians grew more and more confident in their belief that the robot that had attacked them had come from a place very similar to this one; or directly from this one.

Letting the rest of her team to go ahead; Will stopped by one of the rooms, because this one was quite different from the others. While the other rooms were well lightened and directed to production in assembly lines, this one looked more like an OR. It seemed that there had been some short of operation there. There were puddles of blood in the floor, and in the walls there were radiographs of some short of operation. They depicted the bones and muscles of someone being bounded and wielded to metal and machinery.

" _What the hell were these people doing in there?_ " thought the redhead, aiming for one of the radiographs, one that depicted how the skull of someone was being covered in a metallic helmet-like thing, and how some cables reached directly to that person's brain and eyes. It made her stomach thrill and crave to vomit.

"Will?" came Cornelia's voice, fortunately distracting her from the implications of these images. "I think that you should see this"

Will let the radiograph to fall to the ground and headed towards the blonde's voice direction. The other four girls were waiting for her in the end of the corridor, at the gates of a huge door. Why was every door and hall in this dammed place so big? They had giants working for them, or something? Now considering the things she had been put against during her time as a Guardian, Will reconsidered that thought. "Look at that" signaled Cornelia, and Will looked in the direction she was pointing out.

The following room was enormous, almost like a hangar of an airport. Looking down from a platform where they were standing, instead of airplanes, Will saw robots. Dozens and dozens of them. They were quite different from the one that had attacked them, though. They were smaller and less bulky, almost like an average man, and instead of black, they were of a metallic tone. And all of them were emitting that damned static sound! It made the redhead felt dizzy, unable to think properly. They looked far more pleasant than the one of the mall. The Guardians flew and descended to the lower ground, and started to inspect them.

"And what's this supposed to be?" asked Irma. "A robot army? Are they really going to go for the cliché ' _took over the world_ '?"

"Nothing is further from my intention" answered a deep voice.

Turning around and falling into a close combat formation, the Guardians saw a figure emerge from between the swarm of robots. It was Victor Doomstad, walking slowly. "They were never meant for combat" said the man. "They are meant to help this city and its people to improve"

At first, there neither the man nor the Guardians said anything. Victor just stood there, his arms crossed behind his body, looking at them with a interested grin in his face. Then Will broke the silence. "Cut that out" said the Quintessence Guardian.

"Cut what out, Miss Vandom?" asked the man in the burgundy suit.

"That 'philanthropist' act. I'm not buying it. Not after everything that you have done" said the redhead.

"And what exactly I have done?" asked the man.

"Don't you dare to joke with us!" shouted then Irma. "Do you know how many people died in that attack at the mall?!"

Victor's grin disappeared, and his face took a much somber look. "Yes; exactly 419 people died there.. I know perfectly how many people died."

"And you don't have shame?" it was Hay Lin now. "Don't you feel remorse about the lives that you took?"

"He didn't take nothing!" yelled someone.

Directing their gazes upwards, they saw a pair coming into the hangar. One was a woman in a burgundy dress. They recognized her from the photographs, it was Sephiria Doomstad. Carrying a sheathed katana, the woman was followed closely by another robot. This one was pitch black, and looked almost two meters tall; or probably more than that. It looked like a cross between the one of the mall and the ones from here. Except for the eyes, the eyes looked… human?

"Victor had nothing to do with that attack!" yelled the woman. "It was Sylva's doing!"

"With his technology!" yelled Taranee.

At this, the metallic man that was following Sephiria jumped straight from the platform and landed in the ground, cracking it beneath his weight. The robot looked at Taranee, and his eyes sparkled with hate. Sephiria followed his example, and landed next to him, albeit in a much more graciously manner.

"So? Are you holding my husband for the use of his creations that an irresponsible employee made? That's pretty hypocrite coming from you" taunted the woman, leaning in her katana's handle.

The girls had fallen into a circular formation now; Hay Lin and Taranee eyeing Sephiria and the robot with human eyes; and Cornelia and Irma eyeing Victor. Will remained in the center, looking at both sides. They were waiting for them! It had been a trap since the beginning! She needed time to think...

"Why is it hypocrite?" asked Will, in the hopes that a conversation could gain her enough to think about a plan.

"Because you are a cancer" answered Victor.

"Excuse you?" muttered the redhead. She hadn't been expecting that answer.

"A cancer" said again Victor. "A disease that parasites the body and gives nothing in return. That's what you are."

"You twisted motherfucker..." said Irma. "We aren't a cancer!"

"We are heroes!" yelled Hay Lin. "We are..."

"W.I.T.C.H., the Guardians of Kandrakar..." said Victor sarcastically. "Yes, yes, I know. It's all over the scripts about you. Okay Guardians, here is a little riddle for all of you. When the villain isn't the villain?" Victor made a pause, and walked to one side, introducing a series of codes into a little PDA he took from his pocket.

Will thought for a moment. "When the villain it's the hero." answered the redhead.

"Exactly." Victor's blue eyes brightened. "Where was Kandrakar during both World Wars? Where was Kandrakar when this planet was stroked with disease and hunger? Where was Kandrakar when children were dying? If Kandrakar is so high and mighty, why don't help us from the base, instead of just popping when the problems have been existing and causing grieves for so much time?"

"That's not what Kandrakar is meant to be..." muttered Cornelia, but her statement fell on deaf ears.

"Then what it is meant to be? For what I understand, Kandrakar only takes from this world, and gives so very little. If you have power over something, it's your duty to improve that something! Do you want to know for what are those robots?" Victor signaled to the machines, but Will got a glimpse of the PDA. Whatever Victor had been doing it was now done. "These are programmed to help the people of this town. Clean the streets and capture the criminals! These are my Personal Humanoid Informatic Laborers!"

"But we call them P.H.I.L. to abbreviate" said Sephiria with a smirk.

" _She beat me to it..._ " thought a surprised Hay Lin.

"You are just a bunch of kids trying to play heroes; and whatever power backups you it's nothing but a hypocrite bureaucracy. I don't have anything directly against you... but I will crush what you represent. Having said that..." Victor moved to one side and behind him one of the walls of the hangar started to rose, revealing a compartment behind it. Inside the compartment, something lurked and moved. Step by step, whatever was inside came to the light of the hangar.

In front of the girls and now standing side by side with Victor Doomstad, was a werewolf like creature. Massive, growling, stretching his limbs. "I was better in the field outside, Doomstad" spoke the creature, his voice a raspy deep growl.

"I know, I know." answered Doomstad. "But I wanted you to meet your new adversaries."

The creature then focused in the Guardians, who were speechless about his appearance. The eyes of the werewolf-like creature passed his sight over the quintet. His gaze rested a special time in Will, having left her for the end. " _Almost your splitting image, Count._ " thought the creature to himself. Then, breathing deeply, he spoke in his usual growl-like manner. "Ah yes; the new generation. I haven't fought with Nymphs of Kandrakar since the Old Days... but I suppose that today is a good day to retake into old habits." The creature licked his lips and the teeth that sprouted out of his mouth.

" _What the fuck is that?_ " asked Cornelia through their telepathic link, a thought that each one of her friends shared. Will was especially disturbed about that thing. It kept looking at her, its eyes never leaving her for so long. It was considerably disturbing. Why was her always the only one that received special attention from monsters?

"Guardians of Kandrakar" said Victor in a mocking tone. "Meet one of my most trusted and valuable sources of information about Kandrakar, and possibly the best fighter that I ever have the pleasure of meeting." Victor made another pause and signaled the being again.

"Khor the Destroyer."

* * *

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of Infinity._**

At the gates of the Oracle's private chambers, three figures were discussing. They were Luba, Guardian of the Aurameres; Endarno, Guardian of the Tower of Mists; and also Tibor, the Oracle's right hand and the man that directed the Council of Light during his absences. Due to their positions within the Fortress' organization these were, aside from the Oracle himself, the three people that possessed more power in Kandrakar. Thus, seeing all three of them gathered together in the same place, and that place not being the chamber designated to the Council's reunions; was a very rare sight.

"So we don't know exactly what is happening to him." stated Endarno.

"The only think that we know is that his heath has been decaying for the time being without a stop" said Luba, concern showing clearly in her voice. "He told me to keep it a secret, but I couldn't hide from you two, specially due to your positions within the Council."

Tibor shook his head. "Never in Kandrakar's history an Oracle has been hit by something like this." The old sage fondled his long beard. "The Oracle is the pinnacle of this universe; both in wisdom and power. What kind of power could have done to him something like this?"

"Kandrakar and the Oracle aren't absolute beings, Tibor" said Endarno. "The Four Dragons and the Nymph were far stronger than him. And this fortress hadn't been here since the dawn of time. There could be a lot of things about this universe that we still don't know about."

"Maybe this has to do with the spell that Nerissa used in order to block his foreseen"" asked Luba. "Maybe she didn't just block him, but also poison him? She was a very resourceful enemy."

"Probably, but we can't be sure until…" started to say Endarno, just to be interrupted when suddenly, all three of them were teleported inside the Oracle's chambers, where Himerish stood sitting in his bed, blankets over the inferior part of his body. He looked much more than simply tired. He looked sick. And like Tibor had said, no other Oracle had been sick until that moment. The Oracle, who if he wanted could easily defeat every Heart of any world, or even (albeit with some effort) decimate planets; was now sitting in his bed, feeling so weak. It was such a heartbreaking sight.

"Oracle…" started Luba, trying to apologize to not have been able to hide the secret; but Himerish smiled at her comfortably, showing that he wasn't upset.

"I'm not angry Luba. You have every right to be worried and try to gather help. And both Endarno and Tibor are not only my must trusted advisors, but also my friends." Then Himerish's face hardened, his expression changing to a serious one. "The Guardians are in danger" said the Oracle.

"Is this why we have been called here?" asked Tibor.

"Yes" answered Himerish. "I'm afraid that if they don't receive help now they… they would probably die."

"Die?" asked Endarno, with a horrified look on his face. "Is their enemy so powerful?"

"I'm afraid that we may have underestimated this new foe. Even in my actual condition I can foreseen that it has help from something that shouldn't be there." Himerish looked at his palm, which was almost shaking due to his poor physical state. "Something is very wrong with all of this: We will have to investigate more intensely. I'm afraid that this is only the top of the iceberg."

"Then what do we do?" asked Tibor. "The laws are explicit, we don't intervene."

Endarno put a finger on his chin and thought about something. "I think that I have an idea; if the Oracle is agrees with it, that's it."

Himerish smiled at his old friend. "I agree, Endarno, it shall be done" the smile of Himerish become sadder, almost nostalgic. "But I must admit… that I will miss you, my old friend."

* * *

In the halls of the Fortress of Light, Halinor walked Calmly, until she was approached by Endarno. Making a disgusted face at the man, Halinor crossed her arms into a defensive position. "What do you want, sage Endarno?"

"I need your help, quick follow me." requested the man.

"If you think that…" started Halinor, but Endarno glared at her angrily.

"Listen here, I know that you hate me, and I acknowledge that you have every right to do so, but you either help me here; or those five girls everyone of you is so fond about and that saved your lives _die_." Endarno made direct eye contact with Halinor, letting his words to sink in the woman's head. "So come. With. Me."

"Lead the way" said Halinor, still in a cold tone, but ready to help the girls.

* * *

 ** _Back on Earth._**

"Khor the Destroyer?" said Taranee. "But… but you are just a myth!" shouted the Fire Guardian.

Will still looked at the frightening wolf-like creature in front of them. Matt had told her that Nerissa drew inspiration from a creature of legend that supposedly had been dead for millennia. She severally doubted that someone like Nerissa thought of it to be more than a story to scare children… but this thing proved it wrong. The Khor that had been part of the Knights of Destruction and that now was the Regent form of Mr. Huggles looked like the friendliest of puppies in comparison with this ting. How much did it size? Five, six, maybe seven meters tall? With reason were the halls and rooms so big.

The monster laughed to the Fire Guardian's statement. It was a cruel and taunting laugh. "I would have noticed if I were a myth, little cinder" said Khor, and then licked his lips and let a powerful howl to echo through the hangar, shaking the eardrums of the girls and even Victor Doomstad. "But I am not legend. I'm Khor the Destroyer; I am of the lineage of Fenrir and the ancient Beast. And I am very real, Nymph, as you are about to found about. Shall we begin?"

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Concentrate. Count to three.

Will smirked. "Indeed. Taranee, Irma!"

Turning around to the order of their leader, both Fire and Water Guardians shoot a ball of fire and a ball of water into each other, creating a wall of steam that covered the girls, who took the opportunity to fly into the air. The massive size of the hangar had the benefit of providing with enough space to fly quite away from their enemies.

"Cornelia, can you use something around here to fight wit?" asked Will, while generating a bolt of Quintessence in her hands.

"I don't know, I could possibly call for the earth surrounding this place, but I could made the mountain to fell in top of us" said the blonde.

"Then stay with me and support me with your telekinesis." ordered Will. "Everyone else, take one of them and try to fight to a standstill until someone else end her fight and comes to her help, understood?"

"Understood" said the other five girls.

"This ends today" said the redhead, thinking that she could reverse a trap into a win.

"I second that" said then a metallic voice.

Jumping from the still persistent cloud of steam, the black robot that had been in the company of Sephiria impacted directly with Taranee, and grabbing her by her waist with a pair of strong cold arms, the metal man let his own weight to drive then to the ground, where he made Taranee impact under him. The hit had been hurtful, but not enough for Taranee to not counterattack with a stream of fire at point blank range to the robots face.

Disorienting the metal man enough time to made him loose his grip on her, Taranee leaped back, ended a few meters away from the now standing robot. "Ahahahahahaha…" escaped a dry and metallic laugh from the place on the meatallic face where a mouth should have been. "I didn't feel nothing, nothing at all. I have to give some points to Mr. Big Bad Wolf there. You really are nothing than cinder."

"You can talk?!" asked a horrified Taranee. Did she just throw a fucking wave of fire to a human's face?

"Of course I can talk, you Cook bitch" the cyborg run towards her and before Taranee could defend herself, he punched her in the chest so hard that sent her flying and hitting a bunch of the P.H.I.L. robots; making them hit the ground alongside her. Noting the pain in her stomach and the savor of blood in her mouth, Taranee looked at the imposing sight of her approximating foe. "And you, Taranee" said the cyborg in his metallic voice, albeit the joy in it couldn't be hidden. "You are going to scream!"

Back in the air, the other four girls had watched this completely stunned. "Taranee!" shouted Hay Lin, trying to go to her help, to then notice something heavy in her ankle. Looking down, she saw Sephiria grabbing her leg with one hand. " _But she is just a human!_ " thought Hay Lin. " _How did she jump..?_ "

Unfortunately, Sephiria impulsed herself and delivered a powerful kick to Hay Lin's face, making her fall from the air. Sephiria landed graciously in the floor again, almost like a cat.

"Oops, did I just make you hurt yourself, little girl?" asked Sephiria, not hiding her mocking. Hay Lin got to her feet and, feeling both humiliated and angry, delivered a powerful blast of wind towards Sephiria, wanting to pay her with the same coin.

But Sephiria proved to be abnormally fast too, dogging every one of Hay Lin's attacks. When finally reaching the Air Guardian, Sephiria took her burgundy dress off, and threw it towards Hay Lin, blinding her. Under the dress, instead of underwear, Sephiria sported a thick suit made of Kevlar that looked like a reinforced and armored neoprene suit, covering everything sans her arms and legs. Hay Lin hadn't noticed, but Sephiria's boots were plain military, and they had metal tips. Which the black-haired woman used instantly to hit her repeatedly.

Tearing in with razor wind, Hay Lin freed herself from the dress, and attacked Sephiria again, this time sending her on the air with several of the robots that were scattered through the hangar. Nevertheless, Sephiria used one of the robots as a supporting point and jumped straight towards Hay Lin, hitting her again in the face, this time with her sheathed katana. This let Hay Lin disoriented, almost hitting the floor. "It's not as easy as with the monstrosities, is it, little girl?" asked Sephiria, making a spin kick and hitting Hay Lin again, this time knocking her to the ground for good. "It's not as easy as to just fire lasers to one another, or fight unbounded giant lizards, is it, little girl?" Sephiria put her right foot into Hay Lin's torso, making her cough blood. "You are untrained, unfocused" said Sephiria. "Do you think that it will be as easy with me as it was with them? I am a trained combatant! And you? You are just a girl that throws hurricanes into a fly, hoping that the huge difference in power would make you win. Me?! I'm of the ones that know" Sephiria hit Hay Lin with her sheathed sword again, making her vomit more blood "that with enough training and discipline…" another hit and more blood. The power of her blows was immense. What the hell was this woman? "A human can defeat a God even with a sheathed katana like mine" Sephiria prepared another blow, this one directed to the Air Guardian's head, trying to break her skull.

But then a blast of high pressured water was shot towards the black haired woman, obligating her to dodge it. In the ground, the other three girls had descended to the aid of her companions. Irma was looking at Sephiria with the angriest of glares. "Don't you dare to touch her!" shouted the Water Guardian, shooting another blast of water in the direction of Sephiria. Unfortunately, the water hit some sort of invisible barrier. Then said barrier shot itself towards Irma, making her fall to the ground near Hay Lin.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" asked Victor Doomstad that was now… levitating? He had a bunch of disks glued to his body, and other few of them floating around him. "I call them gravity-disks. Able to make me fly, levitate objects and project electromagnetic shields. Imagine the revolution that they will made in the market when I release them"

Victor landed near Sephiria, hands at his back. "Now" he said, looking at Irma with the same amount of anger that she had looked to Sephiria. "Don't _you dare_ to touch my wife." And the two couples embroiled in a battle.

Meanwhile, Will and Cornelia had been stopped by Khor. The towering monster looking down at them, cracking his shoulders. "You two…" muttered the mythical being in a growl, as per usual. "You two shall suffice to amuse me before I kill you."

Will didn't have time for this. He wanted to go and help her teammates. They were being isolated, these people had clearly planned to take them one by one, not as a group. Separated they weren't that strong, teamwork was their forte. And Doomstad and the other three had just taken advantage of that fact. She thought of letting Cornelia alone against Khor, but that could prove to be fatal for the blonde. So the answer was clear. Took the monster down fast and then focus on the others.

"Cornelia! The robots!" shouted Will.

In cue, Cornelia used her telepathic powers and made some of the robots to be lift and clash with Khor, covering him. Then Will unleashed her Quintessence powers and zapped the amount of metal, electrocuting the beast. But after a few moments, Khor popped out of the debris, completely undamaged. "I forgot to mention" growled the monster, showing his teeth. "Last time that I got defeated, it took the efforts of that time's Heart of Earth to do so." Khor opened his jaws and howled with all his strength. "And believe me, it wasn't easy!"

Khor jumped towards the pair, who dodged each one to one side. Cornelia tossed more automatons to Khor, but they just bounced out of his fur like nothing. Will shot another lightning of Quintessence to the beast, but Khor obliterated the shot hitting it with his claw. "Pathetic" said the massive humanoid wolf.

Will evaded again, starting to fly again and circling around Khor, shooting little blasts to him as fast as she could. Neither her nor Cornelia could focus on something more. Every time they tried to focus and flee from him, Khor just blocked their way. And the worst part was that Will had the feeling that the beast wasn't really trying.

Things weren't going well for Taranee either. It didn't matter what kind of attack or how many flames she threw at the cyborg, the flames didn't do anything. For a moment, the cyborg just crossed his arms and let Taranee engulf him on fire. Just to prove how _pointless_ it was. "As hot as a spring breeze" mocked him.

Taranee fummed. She was getting tired. This has been a bad idea, and still they had walked just towards the enemy HQ. What were they thinking? That they would just walk in, gather information and walk out? Foolish.

"Hey! What's wrong, you Cook bitch?!" shouted the cyborg. "Tired already?" He launched another attack, beating Taranee with rapid punches. "C'mon! It's that all you got?!" continued the machine man while reducing Taranee into a pulp. "Show me the strength that defeated Sylva! Show me the strength that defeated that Shagon guy!" He held Taranee by both her hands and delivered a much stronger hit into her ribs. The same set of ribs that the MK.I had broken. Now totally shattered. "Show me the strength that made my stupid little brother fell for you."

Falling to the ground and gasping for air, Taranee assimilated those words. "Danny... Ashford?" was able to whisper the Fire Guardian.

"In the flesh!" cheered Danny. It was unnerving to hear a joyful tone like that mixed with the metallic voice of the machine. "Well, not entirely flesh. Not _anymore_."

Taranee was speechless. "You... you..."Taranee coughed blood. Breathing hurt. Speaking was a torment. "You are Nigel's brother... You killed a man. You were in... *COUGH* prison..." How was he here? Why was he here? Nigel had mentioned about his brother being a jerk... But collaborating with mass murderers? That was just plain evil!

"Oh... So the smart Taranee thinks that I killed a man." Danny kneeled and whispered to her ear directly. "Here goes a little bit of information, smartass. I didn't kill anybody. I took the bullet for a friend..." Danny's eyes saddened for a moment. "And he... betrayed me. Me! I went to prison for him, just to find out that his momma erased every proof at my favor! I was willing to protect him and, and..."

Taranee didn't know what to say. Danny seemed devastated. There were no lies in his eyes, just the sadness that it's born from betrayal. "And for what? Ahahahaha!"

Danny punched her in the head, making a line of blood to dirty her left eye. Then he grabbed her by her locks and raised her head to his level. "Just for his fucking little sister to be screwing my brother."

Taranee froze. No. No, no, no, no, no. That couldn't be...

"The only thing that I dislike about this" said Danny while standing up "is that Peter won't see your face when he gets arrested.

"Liar..." muttered Taranee while Danny turned around, leaving her behind. "Liar..." said the Fire Guardian again before collapsing. The last thing she saw was the thick and obsidian back of Danny Ashford through the broken crystal of her glasses and her own tears.

Irma and Hay Lin were handling their fight much better. But in the end it was clear that the Doomstads were clearly superior. The two girlfriends have done so far just because their elements' combination had permitted them to create ice and launch it to their foes, but Sephiria just evaded it with her inhuman speed and Victor blocked it with his energy shields.

Then Sephiria unsheathed her katana. It was a slightly curved one, with a bright red jewel near the handle.

Then the married couple changed tactics. Victor's disks flew towards Irma, hitting her and maintaining her distracted. Sephiria rushed towards Hay Lin and made cuts into her arms and her legs. Screaming in pain, Hay Lin didn't notice Sephiria's next attack, which cut her deeply in her stomach. Palms over her wound, the Air Guardian fell to the ground.

This made Irma to cry in anger. Before Sephiria or Victor could do anything more, Irma raised her hands and stopped them in their tracks.

"What the..." muttered Sephiria, unable to move a muscle. Victor was in the same situation. Of course, the blood in your veins is still water.

"Ha! Not so high now, are we?" said Irma, a cruel smile forming in her lips. "It doesn't feel good when you are the ones moving according to others, eh?! What if now I make you kill each other, eh?! Wouldn't it be that an improvement of my powers, eh Dooms…"

Then something hit Irma in her head, sending her to the floor, near Hay Lin and making Victor and Sephiria free of her gasp. Standing behind where the Water Guardian had been was now Danny, who have just punched her in the face.

"My nose!" thought the brunette girl before one of Victor's disks attached itself to her stomach and made her levitate. Then Victor smashed her against the floor repeatedly, until she felt unconscious too. Then the disks detached from her and returned to circle around Victor.

"Are you two okay, doc?" asked Danny.

"Yes, thank you." Victor looked in Taranee's direction. "Is she…?"

"Still breathing, don't worry about that, doc" answered the young man covered in thick metal, folding his arms.

"I thought that you wanted to enact revenge, Daniel" said Victor with a smirk in his face.

"Nah…" said the cyborg, holding his hands up into an apologetic manner and looking to other side. "Revenge is a suckers' game."

Victor smiled proudly at the young man, while Sephiria looked over the girls. "These three are not a problem anymore" said the woman. "Not that they were to begin with. That leaves…"

The trio looked to the part of the hangar where Khor battled with the other two Guardians. It was clear who had the upper hand there. Every time that the two girls attacked individually or tried a combined attack, the beast just shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"Khor!" shouted Victor. "Enough with the playing; take it seriously!"

Hearing this, Khor stopped playing with the two girls. Albeit he had no right to harm the daughter of the Count, he still could do so with the blond one. Moving way faster than the human eye can see, Khor appeared right behind Cornelia, providing a successful sneak attack by harming her with his claws. Still, Cornelia flew higher and levitating more robots she sent them against him. "You will have to do better, Mr. Dog!"

"Dog?!" shouted Khor, clearly enraged. "How you dare to call me, one of the Great Wolfs, a mere domesticated pet bound to something as low as humans!" Khor opened his jaws and this time, instead of a howl, from them came an orb of crimson flames, which the beast fired at Cornelia.

The Earth Guardian fell to the ground, burns over her body; but still able to move. "I said… that you will have to do better…!" and her wings started to flap again, slowly taking her into the air again. Of course, Khor wasn't going to permit it. Stomping his foot onto Cornelia, he smashed her against the ground and with the claws of his feet, he started to drill into her legs.

"How is that, human being?" asked the beast, arrogantly.

"AAAAHHH!" shrieked Cornelia.

"Good answer" growled Khor. Then he grabbed Cornelia's wings. "This always proved smart against limited Nymphs…" and with a strong pull, the beast just tore apart the wings from Cornelia's back, making her shriek in more agony and leaving two bleeding huge wounds where the wings used to be. But in difference to her friends, Cornelia didn't pass out. Even with the pain, even with those holes in her back… Cornelia refused to pass out and abandon her friends! She gathered enough strength and, using her powers, she clapped the floor. At first, nothing happened, but then with a deafening sound, a sharp pillar of earth opened the metal ground and impacted in Khor. Even if the pillar of stone shattered, it made Khor to lift his foot from Cornelia and walk away a few steps. Then the Earth Guardian stood firmly, albeit the immense pain in her body made her tremble. Will flew and landed next to her, putting Cornelia's arms over her shoulders.

"God Cornelia, I'm so…" said Will.

"You will have time to feel sorry when… when we all have escaped from here"

"Humph" snorted the beast. "So you still have fight in your body…" Khor opened his jaws again. "Another blast should suffice! Disappear, human beings!" said Khor, charging another ball of crimson flames.

Will closed her eyes. " _Fortunately this won't be enough to kill the offspring of the Count, but will let the other as a corpse… how pathetic excuses of Nymphs, I wanted a real fight…_ "

"Khor! Enough!" shouted Victor. "I need all of them alive!"

The beast looked at the trio of humans approximating him. "But why? I thought that you hated them."

"I hate what they represent, but dead they serve no purpose." declared Victor. "I need them alive to study their powers and have them to the service of humanity. Also," Victor glared at the beast "I don't like you calling them humans."

"Doomstad. What I'm going to say I'm not going to repeat" said Khor defiantly. "A human is a human. The weakest of every species in this universe; nothing but things to prey upon. The only reason for me to be serving you is due to the debt that I have with you for reawakening me after all those centuries. But don't be mistaken!" Khor growled. "Humans are expendable, even Kandrakar knows of that truth!"

"What do you mean?" came a whispering question.

Khor looked at Will, doubt and ignorance in her eyes. "You…" started Khor, not believing the unawareness of the Count's daughter. "You don't know about The Purges?" Khor laughed into his usual growl manner. "Ahaha… you don't know anything about the people you fight for, do you?"

And what was that supposed to mean? Will's head hurt, and she felt bad for complaining. Her friends were in a much worse condition. Especially Cornelia, who was still standing. True, with her help, but the blonde was still conscious. "Will…" spoke said blonde. "You have to take us from here… use the teleporting…"

"Enough bravado." said Victor. "Khor, let them unconscious! This is an order!"

Khor eyed the pair again. "This one won't hurt so much as the one I was preparing…" said the beast charging his attack again. "But it will put you to sleep." Khor shot his crimson flames again. The projectile was about to hit the two last standing Guardians… when it smashed against a semi transparent white barrier. The eyes of human, cyborg and beast bulged in confusion.

What followed happened in the margin of one minute.

In front of the defeated pair, appeared the white robed guise of an elderly man with black, long locks of hair in his head. A scar over his left eye and a sword that resembled a nodachi in his hand, Will recognized it from the Council's meetings. His name was Endarno.

Leaving the energy bubble behind, he rushed forward and jumped over Khor. The beast tried to grab him, but the man proved to be too fast. "A sage from the Fortress of Light!" shouted the wolf-like creature. "Kill him, Doomstad!"

Victor and Danny tried to stop him; but the elder just dodged Victor's disks and putting a palm over Danny's chest, he continued his way. "You old fart… If you think that you will… Oh, what the-?" said Danny, before a symbol started to glow in his chest, where Endarno had touched him. After mere seconds, the symbol exploded violently, sending Danny across the hangar, fuming.

Sephiria tried to be the most troublesome; and after a few exchange of blows with their swords, Endarno bypassed her by making a flash of white light in his left hand (the one he wasn't using for the sword) blinding her for a moment. There was no time to waste in fighting. Also, he didn't consider himself suited to defeat all these foes in combat. They had proven too powerful, and he was certain that Khor wasn't even trying.

Leaving Sephiria behind, the old man reached Irma and Hay Lin and created another sphere around them. "Now, Halinor!" shouted the elder.

The blond former Guardian of Fire materialized next to her successor and clapped her hands, emitting a greenish light over the spheres. "She is trying to escape!" growled Khor. Approximating the sphere that held Will and Cornelia, he punched it, craking its surface. "Don't think that this is the end…" threatened the monster; showing his full set of fangs.

"Don't you dare to take her away, bitch!" shouted Danny, recuperated from the explosion and jumping towards Halinor and Taranee with his claws extended. But those metallic claws only reached air. When he landed, every Guardian was gone. "Fuuuuuuuck!"

Sephiria looked at Victor, and he crossed his hands at his back. "This is… inconvenient. But don't let it go to your head, Daniel."

" _It's clear that we have won_."

* * *

In his consult in the center of the city, Theodore Riddle had seen the battle to develop with a cruel smile on his face. His telekinesis and telepathy were strong enough to handle a mere man like Sylva, but he doubted that they could have proven useful in a battlefield. And his body was quite old and frail, never bothered with the struggles of training.

Although, he had loved to see the fight. Hell, he had even recorded it! Truth be told, he didn't like the beast's behavior; and he would have opted to kill those monsters that called themselves Guardians right in the moment… but as a psychologist, he knew the power of a good and total defeat. Their prides and spirits would be demolished for a long time now.

He would also want to hear from Khor about those purges. It looked like Kandrakar had done more harm than he knew already. Streching, he looked over his desk, where the chess board was. Reaching to it, he made one of the pieces that composed the pairs of Towers, Knights, and Bishops and thevQueen to fall, but he didn't take them from the board either. " _It doesn't matter if they die or not, but their deaths would be pleasant_ " thought Riddle. " _It doesn't matter_ " he repeated to himself. " _In the long run, my side will end victorious, independently of the result of any fight…_ "

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield at noon._**

 ** _Chacon residence._**

Matt Olsen and his two Regent companions walked into Casidy's house direction. They have received a message from Yan Lin to come here. She had said that it was urgent, and for some odd reason, Matt feared the worst.

Casidy's house was actually a pretty normal one. The teenager had thought that it was going to look like some short of eldritch location... but it was just a normal looking house.

At the doir, with the phone plastered to her ear, was the former Water Guardian, speaking with someone using a submissive tone. "Don't worry, there is nothing to be wary about, Mrs. Cook." said Cassidy. "They were jusyñt to tired to be back... Aha. Aha. Oh, oh, of course I can tell her that she is grounded. Uhum... Okay, chiao!" Casidy hanged the phone. "That was the last one." then she focused in the Regents, adopting a much more serious look. "You three. Inside. Now."

And the trio headed inside with the woman.

* * *

"My God..." those were the only words that Matt could say. Lying down into a bed, a couch, and plain blankets extended in the floor, were Cornelia, Taranee, Hay Lin and Irma. With them, rushing from one to another were Halinor, Hay Lin and Kadma. There was also one of Kandrakar's sages, who Matt remembered from his time in the Fortress. The four girls were sleeping... no, they were uncouncious. And they were beaten to the extreme. Hay Lin had a deep cut over her stomach and several smaller ones scatered over her body, especially over her arms and legs. Yan Lin looked how Endarno finished a healing spell over her grandaughter. Both elders had the same concerned look in their eyes. Especially Yan Lin. Right now it didn't matter if she was talked or touched. The only thing that mattered now was Hay Lin.

Irma had her nose smashed against her face, and also had a lot of brises over body. One of her arms looked broken. Halinor was finishing the same healing spell that Endarno had used in Hay Lin. Cassidy aproached her. "Let me continue here, go to Taranee."

The blonde senior moved to her succesor and started the treatement over her. Taranee had bendages over her left eye and her torso. As Halinor started, Matt could see how the bones started to move and recompone under her skin. It looked terribly painful. Good thing that Kandrakar's sleeping spells were so good.

Over the bed, Kadma and Will healed Cornelia. The blonde was lying on her front over the bed, stripped and the blankets pulled just over her lower half. In her back two wounds that loked like holes, like someone had ripped something directly from there. "Don't tell me... her wings?" thought Matt.

Napoleon rushed towards his master, positioned himself at the beds head, near Cornelia. "If I can asist somehow ma'am..."

"Don't worry, Will and I have this" answered Kadma.

Will delivered low waves of Quintessence over Cornelia's injuries, closing them slowly. Kadma muttered some strange words while Will did this, the wounds healing faster. "Done. We can't do nothing from this point." said the former Earth Guardian.

"Will... will they grow back?" asked the redhead.

"I don't know" said Kadma.

Will breathed and left Cornelia to sleep. She passed over each one of the others. She then directed to Endarno. "Lord Endarno, is there a chance to get Kandrakar's help for...?"

Endarno shook his head. "I can't tell. Kandrakar doesn't intervene." Endarno took a deep brath and looked at Yan Lin over his shoulder. "In order to come here, both Halinor and I have left our post im the Council. I don't know anymore. And Halinor was just a sage, but I was the Guardian of the Tower of Mists."

"Okay. Thanks anyway." said Will.

Walking slowly, Will tripped due to lack of strenght. Fortunately, Matt was there to catch her. Hugging the exhausted girl, Mat kissed her forehead lovely. "Will... Will what happened?" asked the teen.

The only thing that she noted being Matt's palm rubbing her back and pulling her tighter to her, Will let the fatigue to defeat her definitely. "Matt, we have lost" some tears dropped from her eyes. "We..." Will sobbed, unnable to control her emotions. "We have lost..."

 _All records are riddles, and whatever you may want people to think it's about, it may just be throwing them off. And you don't want it to get in the way of what someone else's understanding is. It's not really about anything. At the same time, it will find some meaning._ Tom Waits.

* * *

 **Author's Note: This chapter was hard to writte. Not because of its lenght, but because what I wanted to put in it. In each season of W.I.T.C.H. the girls sre defeated in an explicit area. When Phobos gains Elyon back at season 1, he defeats them emotionally. When Nerissa does it in season 2 (especially in J is for Jewel) she defeats them strategically. So I thought that the one last thing that lasted was for them to be defeated both physical, pshycological _and_ ideologically. This chapter the Guardians (especially Taranee) are forced to do things that are morally questionable and confront people whose ideals are (finally) comprensible, and not just an excuse to gain power, which is one of this arch's and fic's objetives. Judge my storytelling decisions as you wish.**

 **Next chapter is, of course, the second Meridian Interlude: The Hunt. It will be updated in October, I think. I have just restarted university and the chapters just get longer and longer... so understand my case.**

 **Until then, have pleasant days and nights. Good bye.**


	10. Chapter 10: Second Meridian Interlude

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH. It's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **A/N: Hello everyone. I hope that you all liked last chapter and that you aren't very upset about the fact that I practically broke the Guardians during the second half of it. In the after-work of the Prologue, I mentioned how I wanted to mix elements from the manga Berserk into the W.I.T.C.H. universe. And just to remember, this story is labeled M and as a Tragedy for a reason. I always thought that, in the comic book, the enemies became more and more pointless with every new one showing up. That's the reason why I want to make the "villains" of this fic the way they are made. That's the reason why Cedric can now use Quintessence, or Doomstad and the others mopping the floor with the girls in the previous chapter. I want them to face challenges. I want them to struggle like never before. It may sound cruel, but that's how I want to tell this story.**

 **On the other hand, I want to thank Jamie89 for the review in September 28. Your words of encouragement are really appreciated; and I really am happy that you like my story so much and that you found the last chapter intense; because that was my intention. Glad that you appreciated it.**

 **Having said that, let's go onto the chapter. Welcome to "The Hunt", a Meridian Interlude focusing on… well, hunting, among other things. Like always, enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

 **PD: This chapter is massive! Read it at peace, because is the largest one in the fic as this words are written.**

 **PD2: Made some changes since update. Just to correct some errors. Thanks for understanding!**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter ten

Second Meridian Interlude

The Hunt

* * *

 _Yeah, when I was 17, I could hear the angels whispering. So I droned into the words and wondered aimlessly about till I heard my mother shouting through the fog. It turned out to be the howling of a dog_.  Furr; by Blitzen Trapper.

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian (Metamoor)_**

 ** _Many centuries ago_**

At the sound of a drum, a man chained from both hands and legs walked hardly. It was a young man; not even a proper adult. Only seventeen years old, the young prisoner walked, pressed by a pair of members of the Royal Guard who pulled from his chains. Behind them, a crowd full of people, shouting insults and throwing small rocks towards him. Ahead, the tree; and hanging from it, the rope prepared for his execution. At the tree's side, the priest, bald and fat as a whale, and small as a penguin, messenger of the Old Gods that some meridianites have venerated since the dawn of their civilization. Chimeras, Passlings, Galhots and even the Lurdens; all of them venerated those Old Gods; the Gods of the swamps, of the rivers, of the fields and of the skies. When humans came to this world and conquered it, instituting their Royalty and regime and building their castles and fortifications, it did not take too long for them to adapt those beliefs into their own selves and mix them with their culture. It didn't take long until the whole religion was directed by humans and be something so different from what was in the beginning that the practices of the original and true religion were considered heresy. And heresy was punished with death.

The young man, a Galhot himself, with bright green skin and a muscular body, almost no scales over it, walked with only a pair of trousers towards his doom for that very same reason. Heretic, they were calling him. He wasn't a heretic. He wasn't even a priest, or a religious man. His father was, in the other hand. An honorable man who decided to practice hidden masses in order to, in his own words, "preserve our traditions." He was what he has been all his short life. A hunter. A man that had dedicated his innocent years to learn and his youth to hunt in order to feed his family. Traditions are good and all, but they don't fill your belly or cover your body in clothes. And so, the one that had got the family ahead had been him; and his hunting dog too.

Trying to delay the execution the maximum possible, he tried to walk slowly, but the guards just pulled from his chains and sent him to the mud. Head in the dirt, he still could hear the yells and mocks from the crowd. "Heathen! Heathen! Hang him out of his throat!" shouted each one of them. The hunter doubted that they were part of the congregation, or even worshippers or practitioners. He thought that they were just in need of some show. His father had been slain the very same moment the Guard had burst into his secret church; so now the duty of entertaining the rabble fell on the son's shoulders.

Forcing him to stand up from the ground, the guards continued to press him towards the tree. Gods, it was an ugly tree. It was twisted and dried, and its wood was black. The branches looked like the horns of some devil, twisted into a horribly manner too. Finally reaching the tree, the young hunter saw how the guards put a box under the rope. Not even a proper gallows. Was this even decreed by the Crown? He didn't know, but he supposed that not. The only thing that surpassed the Priests' power was the Queen and her inner circle; and no one else. If the Crown didn't object, then a priest could have a chief of a village hanging out of his throat or having his head cut off; and nobody would have said a word. It was divine design.

Getting up the box, the hunter saw how the rope was pulled around his neck. He breathed deeply. He had promised himself to not show fear, to not shed any tear. He wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. Looking to the crowd, he spotted someone that wasn't shouting with the rest. It was his mother, with his loyal dog by her side, who wasn't barking or flinching an inch. It was ironic how an animal showed more composure than the humans and the Galhots of the crowd. His mother looked sad. It was comprehensible; her son was about to die. But she didn't shed tears either. She wasn't to look weak in front of those barbarians. She, like her son, was also of a strong character. In her hands, she held an amulet, an object that her husband had gathered from a Passling. He said that it was an object meant to be a key to commune with the real Gods; a key to be enlightened.

A puzzle box.

The priest then started to talk, his voice booming and raising over the yells of the crowd who, sans the occasional insults, fell silent. "Good sheep of the Gods" said the priest. "We meet here to enact trial upon this heathen, this heretic who had derailed from the way. In behalf of the High Church of Lannion; I shall list this man´s many crimes" the priest pulled out a scroll.

"Found culprit of Heresy" read the holly man. "Corruption, Robbery, Assassination…" the holly man sure had gone to the extreme. The hunter's father never had done any of such things. "Flesh consumption, flagellation, orgies…" and those were just ridiculous. Then what? That his father had been a conspirator against the Queen? "And plotting against the Crown." And there it was!

The crowd exploded in yells. "Traitor, hang him, hang him now!" The young hunter's mother just looked in annoyance. The situation was so surreal that it looked like a joke.

"But before we enact sentence over this man" said then the priest. "We shall not forget that he is also a sheep and that the Gods are merciful! If he wishes to repent, I shall forgive him before his punishment, so he shall join Heaven in peace! Young soul" asked the small, fat man. "Do you repent? Have you any last words of shame and repentance?"

The young hunter looked at the crowd. "Priest" said the hunter, not even bothering with looking at him.

"Yes, young soul?" asked the holly man, expecting a shameful cry of forgiveness.

"You will burn in the depths of Hell" said the Hunter.

The crowd exploded into an angry yell, and the skin of the priest turned red in anger. "So be it" and the holly man kicked the box, making the young hunter to fall to his doom. After the mere seconds of falling, the rope around his neck tightened due to his own weight, oppressing his throat. His neck didn't snap from the impact, so now the crowd had to wait until he suffocated. This was the priest's intention since the beginning.

Hanging is a very cruel method of execution. Normally, the impact of the sudden fall kills you by snapping your neck; but if the rope is tied into a bad manner, then it won't be strong enough and you will survive the fall. And then, the rope will oppress your throat, making you unable to breath. Your lungs will consume the oxygen left in them rapidly, due to your heartbeat increase thanks to the adrenaline. Your blood will carry less and less oxygen to your brain every time, making thinking more difficult to you and then, even if you resist, your instincts will kick in and make you gasp for more air. Opening your mouth in order to breathe, the old air will leave your lungs, but the rope will tighten around your throat even more. And so, the only thing that you will accomplish will be accelerating your death.

This was the young hunter's case. He noted his heart becoming slower and slower, his mind clouding, losing sense of time and space. His eyes darted to the crowd, looking for his mother. He didn't want for her to watch him like this. Unable to control himself anymore, the poor young hunter didn't notice how the weight of his trousers increased. He had shit himself.

The crowd, whose noses didn't last long into catching the odor, bursting in laughter and mocking towards the man. Even in the verge of dying, he could distinguish the laugh of the priest from the others, sounding at his side. The last rational thing that he saw was his mother's face, seeding tears even if she had promised herself not to.

" _Is this the end?_ " thought the young hunter. " _No… I don't want it to end like this!_ " The poor boy had just pissed himself now. The laughter intensified, since the results of his lost of control over his sphincter were much more visible this time. " _I don't want to die… I don't want to die!_ "

His mother cried out his name, but he didn't get to hear it. The tears of the woman flowed out of her eyes like two tiny rivers. Just to fall on top of the puzzle box.

And then the device opened solemnly.

Then time stopped, and space was tore apart. The silence of the world of stopped time was filled with the sounds of powerful yet almost comedic sound of trumpets emulating the tune used for royals. Four hands descended from heaven, reaching towards the young hunter. One was muscular and metallic, other a feminine claw, other a skeletal one and the last one a childlike one. " ** _We heard your cry, child_** " said an amalgamation of four powerful voices. " ** _Tell us, what do you desire?_** "

" _I want to live…_ " cried in his mind the young hunter. " _I want to live and… and… hunt every one of them like the animals that they are!_ "

" ** _Hunting is your desire? Then congratulations._** " said the quartet of voices. " ** _You want to hunt, and we are in need from a hunter. But don't be mistaken"_** the four hands grabbed him and raised his body away from the rope. **_"If you become our hunter, you would never stop hunting. And in the end, after all the chasing and the struggling, you may look at the mirror and see nothing more than a beast in the place where your own self used to stand. Again, child. What do you desire?"_**

 _"Hunting! Hunting!"_ thought intensely the young hunter.

" _I desire to hunt!_ "

The four hands burst into green and black flames, the whole world of stopped time being consumed by them. The only thing that remained was the hunter. Then, once the world consumed, the flames rushed towards him; enveloping the hunter. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. He had thought that he would be burnt, but instead he was just feeling thirsty. He noted his skin shagging… no, no. The appropriate word was _drying_. And in that moment, it started to hurt. And the worst part is that he couldn't scream.

His skin was drying, the flames evaporating every drop of water or moisture in it. And not only the skin. The young hunter noted how his throat not only ached, but contorted. His lungs, stomach, intestines… even his own hearth was being dried, the blood in his veins boiling and evaporating in a red mist through his now dried green skin.

Then his face contorted, his lips falling and tensing over his mouth, exposing his teeth. The cartilage of his nose melted, and the protuberance fell apart from his face. He could note how the blood vessels of his eyes dried out too, leaving his eyeballs a pair of blood-red orbs in his face. The young hunter tried to scream, but only a whispering and rasping sound left his mouth. The process was complete. Now the only thing left was a weapon. The green and black flames started to converge in one point.

And then the sword appeared.

Free from the tree, moving in the world of stopping time, the now transformed young hunter saw how the weapon floated in the air towards him. Raising his now dried hand he took it by its handle.

And then time resumed.

What followed was nothing but a one sided butchery. The transformed hunter raised his new weapon, and with one simple stroke, he sent a wave of the same black and green flames that had transformed him onto the crowd. The smell of burnt flesh flooded the air, and the now transformed hunter inhaled it with his no-nose. Letting his new white mane to fly with the wind, he followed the ones that had escaped the wave of flames. One by one, he impaled them with the sword, and they burst into a shrieking mass of green fire; dying in agony. Turning around, he eyed the priest, who was the one shitting himself now.

"I told you, priest" said the young hunter, his voice almost a raspy whisper. "That you would burn"

No one was left in the clearing, except for the hunter. All of the members of the crowd were now nothing but ashes; even his own mother. It wasn't as if the young hunter had enjoyed killing her. But he hadn't lamented it either. She was… _just a prey_.

" **Yes, she was nothing but a prey; and you are now a hunter. And it's a hunter's duty to hunt the preys** " said the collective of four voices. " **The box, search for it; it's of vital importance**."

The hunter did as said, and he searched for the box. He founded it near one of the corpses that weren't fully consumed by the flames. He supposed that it was his mother's.

" ** _The box is the key_** " said the voices. " ** _The box is needed to open the gate and appoint new Hierophants. You are now a Hierophant too; Eternal Hunter. We have provided you with strength beyond of the one of mere mortals, with command over the dark creatures that lurk in the shadows of every forest. And with eternal return. Even if you die, even if your head is cut off; even if you fall a thousand times… You will rise again and again._** "

"What must I do" said the hunter "in order to pay for all of this blessing?"

" ** _Do whatever you want_** "

The Hierophant Hunter started to leave the clearing. For some reason, he felt like abandoning the sword behind. It wasn't needed right now. But he was sure that they would make him carry it in the future. So for now, he would hunt…

" ** _Hunter, Hunter. Eternal Hunter_** " whispered the voices of the Four.

He would track any prey and hunt it with merciless precision and efficacy.

" ** _Hunter, Hunter… Tracker, the Tracker_** " whispered again the quartet.

Because he desired to hunt. Because hunting was everything he had left. And he would whatever he wanted.

" ** _Tracker, Tracker…_** " the whisper, one more time.

" ** _WAKE UP!_** "

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian_**

 ** _The present_**

The Tracker woke up suddenly. He still was in the clearing of the forest; at the feet of the black, ugly and twisted tree that had been both his grave and rebirth crib. Sniffer was at his side; and the spawn of the forgotten realms was not so away to be found. He touched his dried face, to find a lonely tear pending from his cheek.

" _Me? Dreaming? Preposterous_ " thought the undead. Getting to his feet, Tracker shook the dust accumulated in his clothes and started to walk away, Sniffer in tow.

"Hierophant, where are you going?" asked the spawn of the forgotten realms.

"Hunting. Not an easy hunt, not a comfortable one; but only the hard hunts provide with the best prices" answered Tracker. "And I have yet to fulfill my duties as a Hierophant; so I will kill two birds with one single stone." Tracker looked over his shoulder to the worm-made creature. "You can also come along, if you wish so."

"Could I get my mouth full if I go with you, Hierophant?" asked the beast.

"Are you only interested in eating?" asked Tracker, just to shake his head. "No, forget that question. Sometimes I forget with what kind of creature I'm speaking. But yes, your appetite will be satisfied, no doubt about that."

Moving slowly, the hundreds of black worms that composed its body moving weirdly, the beast followed tracker, its vertical mouth salivating in pure delight of imagination over its future dishes.

Tracker's grip around the halt of his sword tightened. The screaming faces in pain that could be seen in the weapon's blade trembling in terror at the sight of the undead exiting the clearing, again into Meridian.

The Hunt had begun.

* * *

 ** _Carhaiz_**

"And so, I hereby you, Guiron, due to your service and loyalty; head of the new Military Academy of Carhaiz; in order for you to help the new cadets into developing in full, proud and functional members of the militia." the voice of Queen Elyon echoed towards the crowd full of citizens of Carhaiz, while her hands put a completely new insignia over Guiron's chest in order for him to be identified as the new Headmaster of the Military Academy.

Queen Elyon looked radiant today. She had ditched her usual regal blue dress for one of a dark, purple tone that was much more, for a lack of a better, _kingly_ ; being full of ornaments, the sleeves decorated with pieces of almost transparent pink silk and thin lines of braided gold. The most notorious part, however, wasn't the dress itself, but how suggestively it hugged to the young Queen's body. Albeit still a teenager, the dress accentuated her underdeveloped but existent bust and her hips. Every time that she moved, the eyes of every teen boy in the crowd (and even of some middle aged and old men) directed themselves to the Queen's butt. She didn't seem to notice their lustful gazes… and if she was noticing, she didn't seem to mind.

Guiron kneeled down before his Queen, bowing his head. "I thank you, you majesty. I shall impart the spirit of a good soldier into the youngsters. I won't defraud you" ended the soldier, looking up to the Queen's face in determination, his only eye sparkling with devotion and gratitude.

The Queen smiled to the soldier and then directed herself to the crowd. "For too long has this city be just a second-place in the hearts of the meridianites! But now, the Crown gives you an opportunity to not let that happen never again! Don't let them look at your home like some quagmire! This city…" said Elyon while looking at the lustful expression of the young cadets, the greedy eyes of the strumpets and the Machiavellian smiles of the masters and mistresses of the whorehouses. "This great city! Will continue." Elyon's eyes focused into a couple almost at the end of the crowd. A tall, beautiful blond man with the hair let free; and a petite teenage girl of her age with raven hair and blue eyes that, sans the Queen, no one seemed to notice. "Carhaiz will survive"

* * *

The streets of the city were fuller of life than ever. Never in its history had Carhaiz seen such hodgepodge. Men, women, children… of all age and genders were adorning the streets, drinking in the taverns, singing in groups, dancing with their loved ones. Or visiting the whorehouses. The predictions of the masters and the mistresses hadn't been wrong. In fact, they had underestimated the result of the Queen's plans. Not only were the new young and hormonal cadets acting as they were expected to act; with more money in the sack than brain in their head. No, the veteran soldiers, even the new Headmaster; were also falling into temptation. And while some young men and women fell prey of the oversized breasts of some woman; or the rock hard body of some man; in their offices, with rapid hand movements, the masters and mistresses of the houses of pleasure, the merchants of flesh and void happiness, counted their coins and annotated their earnings in their ledgers.

This was the fate of Lot. Sitting behind his personal desk, he wrote as fast as he could with his left hand while amounting more and more money with the right. Every time that he thought the he could stop, another half-nude and sweated whore opened the doors of his office and deposited _another_ fair amount of gold into his desk with a smile from ear to ear, no less. Lot was a greedy man. He knew it, his employees knew it, Carhaiz knew it and every corner of the whole Meridian where his name was spoken knew about that fact. But even the greediest of men can be overwhelmed by money. And so, with every new coin, Lot grew more and more annoyed. Then he laughed at this situation. To think that he could grew annoyed at the prospect of having his hands full of money.

When he finished counting the last bag full of coins that one of his employees had brought to him, he looked at the door expecting the entrance of another person. It didn't happen. Sighing in relief, Lot sat up and reached for a bottle of wine that was waiting for this very same moment at the side of some of his books in his bookshelf.

Serving himself a large glass of the burgundy liquid, Lot sipped from it, letting his tongue to savor the taste of the drink. After ending his drink, the shapeshifter licked his lips, cleaning the rests of the wine from them. Today had been a very tiring but profitable day. Smirking, the merchant of flesh decided than another glass of wine wouldn't do any harm at all. He was serving himself when someone knocked the door.

" _Agh! Just when I was starting to relax!_ " thought the man. "Come in, the door is opened." said Lot in a tone that didn't betray his calm mask.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something" answered a girl's voice from the other side of the door. Opening it appeared Miranda, in the new attire that the girls had gave her. "Lord Lot" said the girl with a slight bow. It looked like something automatic and trained. Probably acquired during her times in Prince Phobos' court.

" _Oh, thank goodness that it's just her_ " thought the shapeshifter. "Oh no, please Miranda, you are welcome." said Lot, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk for the girl to sat in. "And ditch the 'Lord' part. I have never been a Lord and I never will be one."

"If you insist…" said Miranda, sitting and putting something over the desk. For a moment, Lot thought that it would be another sack of gold… but no, that would be impossible. Poor idiot who dares to touch Cedric's beloved. No, instead it was a book, One of Lot's most detailed encyclopedias. "I came to return this to you."

"Ah, yes, that one." said Lot with a playful grin in his face, sitting at the other side of the desk and taking the book and looking through some of the pages. "Do you know that I got this one from Earth?"

"No" said Miranda. "Never thought you as an adventurer." joked the girl.

"It wasn't an adventure" stated the man. "But I heard that Earth can provide with quite the interesting literature, as Cedric can tell you." Lot deposited the book at his side and tapped the wood of the desk with his four-fingered hand. "I hope that the read has proven useful."

"Certainly" said Miranda, smirking and blushing; remembering her and Cedric's display the day before.

"Good" said Lot, smirking too. " _Strange girl_ " thought the shapeshifter. " _But then again, Cedric is rather strange too_. _And so am I_." The man with only nine fingers looked at Miranda. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"When does Rebecca's turn end?" asked Miranda, thinking about the woman that had helped her to accommodate to this place.

"I think that she would be ending in half an hour…" said Lot, mussing. "Do you enjoy her company?" the man with nine fingers crossed his hands and, using both index fingers at the same time, he signaled to Miranda. "You know… someone may point out that a girl of your age shouldn't be hanging around with the type of people that work for people like me."

"Oh, please" said Miranda, enjoying the charade. "I was a member of the Prince's court. If you think that my" Miranda put a hand over her chest "innocence is still intact" the girl lowered her hand, and transformed it into one of the grey, claw-like and skinny hands of her spider form. "Then you would be _awfully wrong_ "

Lot chuckled. Then he started to laugh between his teeth, to proceed to burst into laughter. "Dear Gods!" exclaimed the merchant of flesh. "You really are your father's daughter! Hahahahahah! Oh Gods…" the man put his hands at his sides. "Ahahaha… Now I understand why Cedric loves you. Tell me, how many?" asked the man.

Miranda thought for a moment, counting, having understood what the man was asking. "I don't know." said the girl.

"Me neither." said the man. "There is a say: ' _When you don't ever bother counting, it's when there is no going back_ '. That's the reason you choose Cedric, right?"

"No" answered Miranda, surprising Lot enough to made him raise an eyebrow. "At first, probably that was the case. Cedric appeared right after I killed for the first time. I thought that he could protect me. Ha was my own knight in shining armor. Well, scaly armor in this case, but you get the idea. Then passed a little, and I started working in the court. Cedric brought me there. Even now I don't know if he did it for me or for a debt he had with my father but, there I ended." Miranda took a deep breath. "At first my missions for the Prince were rather easy. Just go to a village or a camp, blend into the people, and listen to their stories, their conversations and their secrets…"

Lot stood up and brought the bottle of wine to the desk, this time with two glasses. He put the burgundy liquor into both of them. Miranda continued her tale. "Then came the assassinations. Not something spectacular, as when Cedric bursts his _real him_ while persecuting a rebel, or Raythor charging to battle at the head of a platoon of soldiers… No, these ones were just… _dirty_. Sneak from behind, cut a throat. Lure someone to talk with the ' _crying, helpless girl that wants her mommy_ ' and then shift and choke him with your spider-web… those were the type of things that I ended doing."

"You are smiling" said then Lot, his expression an unreadable one.

"I am?" asked Miranda. She touched her own face, and in fact, she found herself smiling.

"And that's the answer." said Lot. "Cruel, sadistic, and also manipulative… the mind and soul of a killer, all behind a pretty face. Ha!" exclaimed the merchant of flesh. "If seems that destiny really has played into Cedric's favor, finding him a woman cut at the same size than him." Lot looked at his side, at the sky that could be seen from the window. "Rebecca will be finishing his turn by now. I suppose that she would take a bath and then just stay in the dormitories of the girls. You could… go there if you wanted."

Miranda smiled and, taking a few gulps of wine, she bowed slightly again (Lot was starting to think that she didn't notice doing it) and left the room. Leaving Lot alone with his book, his money, and the book that he had " _borrowed"_ from an earthling. Sighing, the master of whores opened a caged drawer of his desk, and pulled a little… How did the humans call it? Photo… Photography? Yes, Photography sounded good. A little photography, taken by a device he had discovered in his trips to the neighbor realm to Meridian. It depicted him, younger, still with all the fingers. At his side, a woman with silver-blond hair, wearing male clothes and short hair. The two of them smiling to the lens of the device. She always had loved the discoveries, the adventure, the mysteries. But she also had been greedy, intelligent and manipulative. And powerful; oh yes, more powerful than no one else.

"People are attracted to people that think and act like they do" said Lot, almost believing that his words could transcend space and time and reach the woman's ears, long time buried. "Isn't that right, my dear?"

* * *

 ** _Carhaiz_**

 ** _Inside a packed out tavern_**

"You are exaggerating Raythor" said Tynar. "I think that the Queen has done a great decision by building the academy in this city. You know, give something to the people of Carhaiz to be proud of aside from whores and scammers."

"I don't know Tynar" said then the veteran soldier. "I suppose that was her majesty's logic, but…"

"I agree with the old man here" interrupted Gorlois. "I may not like Raythor, but! He has a really good point. I mean, a bunch of kids running around a city full of women who open their legs just for a few coins? Who couldn't expect it for not backfire?!"

"Aren't some of those 'kids' actually of a similar age of yours?" asked Julian to Gorlois.

"Yeas, yes" admitted the dark-skinned Galhot with a smile. "But they lack the development that I gained in the battlefield. In comparison to them, I'm twenty times the man!"

Julian rolled his eyes.

"Good grief that we have someone like Guiron leading them" commented Raythor, a little pissed by Gorlois' previous interruption. "I hope that he can put some discipline in those minds."

The four of them were sitting at a table into one of the supposedly most tranquil and respectable taverns. The tranquil part had been dimmed false as fast as the establishment went full of people; all of them noisy and joyful; some over the fact that they had been visited by the Queen; others about the fact that they had now a Military Academy in their city. And others were just planning to go into a full night trip into the Red Night District. The respectable part was maintaining itself pretty well. Aside from the ' _trip planners_ '; the majority were plain normal; and some of them were even saluting in respect into the commanders' direction.

After several minutes, Vathek arrived to the table with a full pitcher of ale. Noticing the looks of his four companions as he was drinking in large gulps, the blue and bulky Galhot raised one of his scaly eyebrows. "What?" Vathek muttered.

"Isn't that your fourth pitcher?" asked a worried Julian.

"I suppose we don't have to recall you that we will be in an important mission tonight" said then Raythor. To which Vathek just shrugged his shoulders.

"Humph" muttered the massive Galhot.

Julian shook his head in disapproval, but didn't say anything. Vathek had been drinking more and more since the assault in the Infinite City that had left him with command over no one. Vathek had made a great effort in order to be a proper commander of the Guards after the Rebellion; trying to be like a father to his men… but all of that went for nothing when almost his entire unit ended into that monster's stomach.

"Speaking of the mission" said Gorlois, changing the theme of the conversation. "Where is our brave commander? Say Julian, where is Caleb?"

"My son is making sure that the Queen has everything that she needs in the residence that she has picked in order to stay in Carhaiz" answered Julian. "He will return as soon as that is settled."

"I don't why the Queen has decided to stay here. She could have teleported back to the capital and her regal chambers in the blink of an eye" commented the dark-skinned Galhot.

"She thinks that is better to stay here. That way, if we need help with Cedric…" said Tynar.

"Cedric, Cedric…" muttered Gorlois "If he really was so powerful now, he wouldn't be hiding. I bet that he can't control his new powers and that he is just covering into a corner of a house in that village, praying to not be found."

"Underestimating someone like Cedric is a grave error" said Raythor, in an even harder tone. "Phobos didn't put him at his side for nothing. There is a very sharp brain behind all those scale and fangs." Raythor sighed. "I don't like this. He has been lying low for too long. Aside from that information about Miranda, we have nothing."

"You suspect a trap?" asked Tynar.

"I don't know. Cedric wouldn't be so obvious." Raythor glanced at the people on the tavern. Jubilant; exultant; happy… but at the same time, the old soldier could feel something unnerving about them. Call it instinct or intuition but… he didn't like nothing about how thing were developing. There was a stink in the air… and sometimes Raythor felt as if there was a predator over his companions and him; just waiting patiently to attack and eat their corpses.

"Let's wait until my son arrives" said Julian, bringing an end to the old captain's thoughts. "Then we will see how we approach this situation."

* * *

As his father had said, Caleb was accompanying Elyon; making sure that she was perfectly accommodated in her chamber in Carhaiz. It was a little room into one of the higher levels of the Academy; nothing as spectacular or as bright and royal like the one of the Palace. Irvine, who was also there since it was quite rare to see her alone and not accompanying the Queen to every part she went, always three steps behind her; had insisted that the room was beneath her. But Elyon just dismissed it, saying that she was accustomed to this type of room from her times living in Earth. Then she sent Irvine into bringing her dinner, to which the maid proceeded fervently.

Sitting in her bed, Elyon expulsed a sigh of relief and relax. "What a tiring day… good thing I had Irvine with me or this inaugurations would end killing me."

Caleb looked at the Queen. "Your majesty, now that we are alone…"

"You can proceed with your attack as you and your unit judge appropriate, Caleb." said the Queen, getting ahead of Caleb's words. "I trust your judgment."

"Thank you, my Queen." said Caleb, bowing slightly and marching towards the door.

"By the way" said Elyon before Caleb could depart. "You haven't told me how Cornelia and the others are doing. How was your little trip to Earth?"

Caleb stopped in his tracks, his mind trailing back to the night were he had carried Cornelia back to her home. He had thought of it funny, but also a little bit… _pathetic_. He loved Cornelia, no doubt about that, but a little part of him, the part that had been fighting since his childhood, the part that had been struggling with death and tyranny… that part judged Cornelia's behavior as plainly irresponsible. Still, his love for her was bigger than that part of him; so he thought of it funnier than anything else.

"The trip was good. I met with Matt…" oh right, he had almost forgotten about Matt. "And apparently they have been hit with tragedy too." Caleb made a pause. "His grandfather was killed."

Elyon didn't finch, but her tone of voice sounded surprised. "Mr. Olsen? The old Herbert Olsen… killed off?" Elyon sat again in her bed. "I will have to talk with Will and Matt about this… they were incredibly close to that man."

Caleb looked at Elyon. In her face was now a look of true concern; the joy of her speech to the masses or her usual cold expression entirely gone. Caleb headed again towards the door, but a part of him couldn't resist. "Her majesty… Elyon." said the former Rebel Leader, referring to the Queen by her name.

"Yes?" asked the silver-blond girl. Usually, she didn't let anyone to talk to her by her name. If Irvine had been there, the black-haired maid would have scolded Caleb for speaking so informally to the Queen. Hell, she could probably had hit him. But Irvine wasn't there, and Elyon didn't seem to mind. Not with him.

"The reason I wanted to go to Earth and speak with Cornelia, was partially due to your late behavior." said Caleb, trying to sound in the softest way possible.

When Elyon answered, however, she didn't use a harsh tone either. "My late behavior?" asked the young Queen; sounding like the fourteen year old girl she was supposed to be for the first time since too long.

"You have been acting…" Caleb breathed deeply "incredibly _cold_ towards everyone. I wanted to talk with Cornelia about it; see if she knew why you were being like this and… how put an end to it."

Caleb was expecting for Elyon to use that same cold demeanor with him. Put the ice cold mask over her face and the stone cage around her heart; call him Captain Caleb with that very same tone that she had used with his own adoptive father… but that wasn't what happened. Instead of that, Elyon got to her feet and walked towards the little balcony that her small room; just like everyone else's in the academy had. Getting out to the balcony, she looked at the streets of Carhaiz, now full of live.

"I know" muttered the Queen.

Caleb looked at her from behind. At night and without the adequate type of illumination; the radiant dress made Elyon look like one of those old porcelain dolls. Shinny and beautiful; but also frail and sad. "What have you just said?" asked the young soldier.

"I said that I know" said Elyon again, without getting her sight from Carhaiz. There were people that had got to chase women and men in the streets. The spectacle was just decadently fun. "I know that I have been cold to everyone. It's just… that's how I am now. I could try and explain to them why I'm this way now but I doubt that anyone of them could understand. Even if I explain to them that I am doing everything, _everything_ for them…" Elyon looked down, at every person walking the street. "I doubt that they could understand."

Elyon's shoulders had shrunken; as if she now had an enormous weight over them. She looked really frail into that position. "Do you know why I followed Cedric without a word, or why I believed what my brother told me so stubbornly?" asked then the Queen.

Caleb approximated her. "No. I supposed that it was because the girls and your pare- Captain Alborn and Captain Miridiael; lied to you about your origins and…"

"That helped" said Elyon, interrupting the young man's sentence. "It helped a lot, don't get me wrong. But it wasn't just that. You see, I always dreamt of being a princess, or a queen, or even a fucking Sailor Moon character. So when Cedric and my brother appeared out of the blue, telling me that I was a magical princess, lost from her original world… well, of course I followed without a word."

"What is Sailor Moon?" asked Caleb, a little confused by the analogy.

"Nothing" said Elyon, smirking a little. "Every girl of my age wants to be a princess. Be rescued by a knight and live happily ever after into a castle in the clouds." Elyon paused for a moment and she conjured a little pigeon in her right hand. "But that wasn't my case. I wanted to be a princess but there wasn't a knight in shining armor that came to my rescue, or a man that held me into his strong arms at night. I was alone in every one of those dreams." Elyon made the pigeon to fly from her hand and fly in circles in front of her. "And then, it hit me like a train; after all the betrayals, after all the plots and false pictures of invented happiness. I didn't want to be a frail princess. Even if I wanted a masked ball or a castle in the clouds it would be _my_ masked ball, _my_ castle in the clouds. And I would be their Queen. I want to be something that the people believe in, something that they can lean on, something that changes things to a better state. I want to be better than a frail princess" Elyon moved her finger and the pigeon was suddenly eaten by a powerful eagle with silver feathers. "I _desire_ to be strong. And if I have to bury my own Heart into the deepest and darkest of places to accomplish it… then so be it."

"Elyon" said Caleb, and without knowing why, he hugged the Queen from behind. Elyon didn't finch or protest. She just stood there, watching her magical eagle to become nothing but traces of light. "You don't need to do that. You can count on your people. You can count on us. You can count on me." Caleb let the Queen go and looked how she slowly turned around, eyeing him. "We already believe in you. Look at what you have done!" said the young soldier in awe, signaling to the streets. "These people love you, my Queen" the brightest of smiles had appeared in Caleb's face. "You are string."

Elyon smiled back at him. "Okay, okay…" muttered the Queen. "I will… try and be less cold." Elyon looked at the sky, calculating the hour by looking at the moon and stars position. "I think that you should be going by now, Caleb. You have a snake to hunt down."

Smiling, Caleb made a reverence and left the little room. After several minutes since his departure, Irvine came back with Elyon's and her own dinner. The Queen's was a plate of fish over a surface of lettuce. Irvine's plate was a plain salad. When the maid arrived, Elyon was still in the balcony looking at the street, watching Caleb go. Noticing Irvine depositing the plates over the small table, Elyon asked the maid, "Irvine, tell me. Do you think that children resemble their parents?"

"I don't know, Her Highness." declared the maid. "But if I have to nswer, I would say yes. May I ask why do you make this question?"

"Oh, don't worry. It's nothing of importance" assured Elyon, looking how Caleb's shape disappeared between the tides of people. She smirked maliciously. " _I was just wondering how it is possible for the son of such an intelligent woman to be such a fool_."

* * *

 ** _The Capital_**

Drake was bored. Due to the orders of the Queen about not leaving the capital because of Tracker's threat he had spent entire days after the attack in the barracks at the feet of the castle, or the palace itself. Now he was on the kitchens. He had always enjoyed the gossips told by the cooks and the servants. Their almost innocent bickering, their sarcastic commentaries… it seemed as if the kitchen were a complete different world from the one outside. And it normally cured his boredom.

"And then I told her: ' _If ye' really think that, then maybe ye' should tell him into his faces_ '. Hahahahaha!" said one of the chubby women of the kitchens; earning a laughter from her companions and even Drake.

"Oh, Essylt you're always so mean!" said one of her companions. "You will transform Drake here into a bickering old woman like us at this rate!"

"Who's the old one?" asked Essylt back. "Dare to say that again, Evaine?"

"Ladies, ladies" said Drake. "No one is going to corrupt me, please. And also, whom of you couldn't pass for a lovely lass?"

This earned Drake the laughter of the whole kitchen staff. Some cooks laughed so hard that almost dropped tonight's soup. "Oh… that was a good one, kiddo." commented Essylt. "Almost as good as mine." and the kitchens were full of laughter again. "Say, Drake" continued the servant. "Why are you spending so much time with us? There must been something better to do that stay with a bunch of waitresses and cooks" said Essylt. "Like finding a good wife, for example; or fighting against the evil."

Drake shook his head. "I'm not sure if I'm really suit for the life of a husband. And, hey, I enjoy your company!" protested the man.

They continued like that for a little longer, until a guard appeared in the kitchens and after looking for him, approximated Drake. "Captain, we need you in the city" informed the soldier.

"What's wrong?" asked Drake. "Something has happened?"

"Sir is…" the man made a pause, he was incredibly distressed. Drake noted this. "It's better if you see it with your own eyes."

Taking his sword, which was resting into one of the kitchen's corners; Drake pulled a cape over his shoulders and marched alongside the guard.

* * *

In the streets of the capital the night was dark and cold. Unlike Carhaiz, in which the alcohol and the bodies could warm you; the people of the capital had only their houses. That left the streets bathed in darkness to the guards and patrollers; who only could aid themselves to see in the shadows with torches. Tonight, a good man named Pellianor had been patrolling the streets just to meet his end. Drake; two lieutenants and ten guards were looking over the body. The way he had been killed wasn't pretty. Drake was finding quite hard to look at it.

It was clear that the body hadn't received any harm from the outside. No, it had been harmed from the inside. The complete torso of the poor man was completely torn open; his ribs opening like a gate with two doors that invites you to enter. The worst part was that there weren't any organs inside the body. Drake could see the ribs, the pulverized breastbone and even the man's fucking spine. But there was no heart, no lungs, no stomach or intestines. The poor Guard was completely empty.

Drake lowered himself and, torch in hand and in squat position, examined the body more closely. He started to touch the ribs and the breastbone. Like he had thought, all the signs pointed into his previous deduction. An explosive spell casted by a skilled mage? No, that would have made the man explode in all directions. Perhaps he had been cut with a great sword and then his organs had burst out of his body? No, improbable too. That would have left the street all painted in red, and the street was almost as clean as the man's insides. Then there was only one explanation possible… and Drake didn't like it in the slightest. _Something_ had burst from inside Pellianor, and it had done something with his organs in the process. The most logical explanation was that it had _eaten_ them. And he was pretty convinced that the guard hadn't been conscious of it until the last moment.

He could almost see it. The man patrolling the streets, thinking about what could he do when his patrol ended. And then, a suddenly pain in the stomach that increases and increases until it extends to his whole torso. Then the pain is so unbearable that the guard falls to the ground; convulsing. He can't scream, because he doesn't have lungs anymore. He convulses in the pavement, until the pain goes away; along with his organs and his life. Then, whatever had done that to him opens his chest from inside, ripping the skin and pushing the ribs like an elegant dandy casually opening a door. Then the thing jumps and goes to find another meal. Drake had seen pretty nasty things during the civil war. Inventions and hideous creations of the Prince that aided Cedric to persecute them or torture the prisoners; but nothing like this.

Drake raised from the ground. "You two" said the man, directing himself towards the two lieutenants. "Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Ban" said one of them.

"And Lieutenant Bors" said the other one.

"Good, listen. This man has been eaten from the inside" said Drake.

"Eaten?" muttered Ban. "Sir, that sounds…"

"Ridiculous, I know; but that's what happened here. Or at least is the more believable explanation." Drake sighed. "Tell to every patrol that every man has to be accompanied by at least other one. No excuses. Take more people from the barracks or even the castle if needed; tell them that it's a direct order from captain Drake; and if they protest after that, tell them that without the Queen or Caleb here, I'm in command of the whole militia. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" said both Lieutenants at the same time.

"Right" he then looked at the corpse again. "And bring this poor man to the morgue and call a priest. He needs to take rest."

The Lieutenants did as they were told, and that night there wasn't any patrol that wasn't composed of at least a pair of men. Drake returned to the castle, his mind never stopping from trying to figure out what kind of creature had done that. " _What kind of predator eats from the inside?_ " thought the young man; looking through the pages of a bestiary he had taken from the royal library. " _What kind of monstrosity does that?_ "

And without noticing it, outside the window of his chamber in the castle, Drake was being observed by a red eyed bat hanging upside down from the branch of a tree.

* * *

 ** _The road outside of Carhaiz_**

 ** _The next morning_**

Marching through the road that exited the city of Carhaiz, sun raising shyly over the horizon, the Elite Squad; composed of Caleb, Julian, Raythor, Vathek, Gorlois and Tynar; was abandoning the city. All six of them in horses, the men raided their mounts trotting, partially due to Vathek's condition. The blue Galhot was mounting crestfallen, his gaze darkened and taking swallows of water from a canteen rather regularly.

"Ugh..." complained Vathek. "Why didn't none of you stop me last night?"

"To be fair, you didn't want to be stopped" commented Gorlois.

Vathek growled to that commentary. He didn't like Gorlois' witty comment, but he couldn't deny its truth.

"Gorlois is right Vathek." said Raythor from ahead. "Your behavior last night was deplorable."

"Raythor..." protested Vathek, but Caleb's voice came from the line's head.

"He is right Vathek. You almost dried that tavern's stock of barrels. And don't forget that the man you are speaking with was in the Infinity City's attack too."

The blue Galhot fell silent. He knew that his behavior was deplorable... but he couldn't do anything about it. Alcohol was the only thing that made him smile; and also sleep with ease. When he closed his eyes he always saw them. His men falling into that thing's vertical mouth, the sound of their bones cracking under the thing's jaws. And sometimes the image changed, the soldiers became civilians. Men, women and children... the Infinite City was Sonder Hill... and _he was the beast_.

Vathek slowed his horse, allowing Gorlois to pass ahead of him. Tynar get to Vathek's side and hit him friendly in the shoulder. "Don't let that to depress you." said the bald soldier. "Everyone commits failures. Don't let them to overcome you."

"It's because they had already overcome me that I behave like that." said Vathek. "Althought, thank you for talking to me Tynar. You really know what to say to made a man smile." said the bulky Galhot before smiling.

Tynar smiled too and took ahead of Vathek, leaving him in the end of the line. The Squad was getting now far away from Carhaiz, the only thing of the city remaining on sight the towering new opened Military Academy, higher than any other building in the Red City.

After leaving the city far behind and making sure that there was no one on sight Caleb made a signal to the Squad and the six of them started to spoil their horses, taking into a gallop. They had two traitorous shapeshifters to hunt down.

The Elite Squad established an improvised and momentary camp near a river, in order to provide both their bodies and the horses' with fresh water and feed their stomachs. The six of them sitting in a circle, and the sun now over their heads, Caleb pulled out a map from his baggage and extended it in the center of said circle. It was a complete map of Meridian.

In the paper, the vast and magnificent kingdom that occupied the majority of Meridian could be appreciated. A enormous estate with the capital as its center, that had expanded to cover almost the entire habitable area of Meridian with each century that had passed; and that now looked like an enormous circle with the very castle of Escanor as its axis. The Squad was now pretty south from the capital, Carhaiz being located only a 100-200 kilometers from the Tower of Grendal; one of the four monuments named after the four companions of the First King Escanor that marked the limits of the kingdom since its birth. Some rumors said that the towers weren't the same; that the originals had been demolished and these ones were new ones… but very few believed that statement. The towers were a testament of the glory, order and peace that the Escanor bloodline had brought to the realm.

Caleb signaled a little spot in the map, located a little away from Carhaiz in the paper. "There is the place, the little village where Miranda was last seen. Near the Mirmirine fields, just like our informer said." said the young commander. "We are half our way to it."

"Better ride fast when we are done here, then." said Gorlois. The dark-skinned Galhot looked fairly relaxed in comparison with the other members of the party; almost lying completely over the grass with a smile on his face.

"Are we sure that this informer is trustworthy?" asked then Julian. "I don't want to question your judgment, but are we really trust his words? He could be in league with Cedric and Miranda."

"Don't worry father, I assure you that he can be trusted." said Caleb, crossing his arms. The young man could understand his progenitor's suspicions, but was this really the best moment? The Squad needed to be concentrated in their goal like an individual entity. If not, the mission won't succeed.

"What did you do? Pay him for the information?" asked Tynar, while eating a piece of dried meat that he had been carrying in his mount. Actually, there was a bunch of it in the ground, over a thin paper that had served as its bundle. Everyone was picking pieces of the meat and eating them from time to time. Dried meat was a pretty good meal for this type of situations.

"Oh, don't worry. Caleb really made sure that the man was telling the truth. One of my men helped him." said Gorlois with a smirk that looked almost cruel.

Julian looked at Raythor, taking care that the other ones couldn't notice it. The veteran took notice of that, and he looked back at the human. The old Galhot knew what Julian was implying with that look. It was common knowledge that Gorlois' squad, the one formed from the men that answered directly to him, was the most violent and cruel among the ones that had formed the former Rebellion. If you wanted someone to disappear, and you wanted for that someone to not be found again, then Gorlois and his men were your men. Of course, they couldn't have resisted so many years without them, and, truth be told, if the Kingdom ever needed an official assassination squad, the Queen would ask them the first. But Raythor and Julian knew that he enjoyed his job too much. Raythor called that dishonor. Julian called it madness. Still, Caleb trusted and tolerated him, and Gorlois could prove a really good team player in battle.

But it was clear that they have tortured the man. And this also raised new questions in the minds of the two men…

* * *

 ** _Several days ago. Before departing to Kandrakar._**

"A traitor among us?" asked a shocked Julian.

Raythor had come directly to him in regards of selecting one trustworthy man about his mission to find the traitor inside the Court. Raythor trusted Julian, not only as a skilled warrior, but as a goodhearted man.

"Yes, that was Tracker's sentence" said the veteran soldier. "But it could also been a lie. Still, the fact that he knew when the Queen could be away it's rather unsettling."

"Indeed." Julian ordered all this information in his head. "Why did you choose me? I could be the traitor, and you know it."

"Yes, you could be the traitor." said Raythor. "But I know that isn't thecase."

"How so?"

"Because you are a good father." answered the veteran Galhot.

Julian smirked. "That's it? That's the pillar of your reasoning? What has to be that I'm a good father with anything else?"

"Because" said the old Galhot. "If you were a traitor too, it could be the pinnacle of cruelty towards your son."

Julian froze in an instant. He hadn't thought about that. After all that had happened with Nerissa, it could be devastating for Caleb if another person important in his life resulted into a traitor or a manipulator that had been playing with him like a puppet.

"Thank you for the compliment" said Julian. "Well, where we do begin?"

* * *

 ** _The present_**

Since that day, Julian and Raythor had been having secret meetings and investigating over the whereabouts of the members of the High Commanding. Out of all of them, only Gorlois was standing in the shadows, no one knowing about what he does beyond being a soldier. Had he family? Had he a lover? Friends outside the militia? Where did he even live? Those questions never meet an answer. That; added to his cruelty and full enjoyment of it, made Julian and Raythor to think that he was the traitor.

So this mission had in reality two ends. One was either gather information about Cedric and Miranda or capturing (or in case of Caleb, killing) them. Two, look closely over Gorlois' behavior and determine if he was the traitor or not. Of course, the only ones that knew about that one were only two sixths of the Squad. It was going to be such a uncomfortable mission…

"Eating time is up." said Caleb, rising from his seat in the grass. "Pack up and prepare the horses. We still have quite the ride and I would like to reach that village before the sun sets."

The men obeyed and started to pack their belongings and prepare their mounts. For some reason, Caleb had an eerie sensation in his spine. Something was telling him that it could be better if they reached their destination before the night.

* * *

 ** _Afternoon_**

The ride to the little and isolated village had been rather uncomfortable. From time to time, Vathek would reach to a little bottle of ale from his pocket and drink from it. This would earn the blue Galhot a few hard gazes from Caleb and Raythor; especially from Caleb. The young commander was riding in front of the line, and sometimes he would look behind him in order to maintain check of his men. When he spotted Vathek taking gulps from the bottle, he glared at him with all the intensity his eyes were capable of. For Caleb this wasn't just a mission. This was THE mission; his chance to take revenge for what that treacherous snake did to Aldarn. A drunken, useless soldier (especially someone as valuable in battle like Vathek) wasn't the thing that he needed right now.

When reaching the entrance of the village, the sun had long started to get down in the sky. It wasn't sunset yet, but it was near. The small village was nothing out of the blue. Nothing exceptional, just your ordinary meridianite village, with rough built houses and bad maintained harvest fields. This last thing gained the attention of Tynar. In his youth he had grown up in a village very similar to this one. And if there was something that the villagers never let happen would be the field to go to waste. They lived from them, and without them, they would pass hunger. And there wasn't better motivator than hunger.

"Caleb…" said Tynar.

"I have noticed too. There isn't anyone in the streets." Caleb unsheathed his sword, and the others did the same, sans Vathek, who carried his usual flail; and Gorlois, who sported an axe. "Be careful, we don't know what to expect."

The Elite Squad began to move around the village. Even if watchful, none of them found a soul. The village was completely empty. Reuniting in the center of the village, the six men talked to each other.

"Have someone found at least one person? An animal, perhaps?" asked the young commander.

"Nothing" answered Raythor. "Not in the streets or in the countryside around the village. No person can be found."

"Not even in the houses" said Gorlois. "For a moment I was expecting to found some corpses, but no! Nothing at all!" said the dark-skinned Galhot.

Julian looked over the buildings and the village's streets. Corpses? Likely. If there wasn't anyone in town, then the most logical conclusion was that they had been slaughtered. Cedric was never known from his compassion. But if that was the case, where were the bodies? And why was the city in such a good state? When in beast form, Cedric usually left a trail of destruction and debris behind him. This wasn't the case. Something was different from previous attacks here… Julian looked at one of the houses' windows. There, he could see a shadow moving, and then disappear. He then noted something behind his neck, a sensation of dread.

"Caleb" said Julian.

"Yes father, I have noticed" said the young commander. The he spoke to the other members of the party in almost a whisper. "We are being watched _._ "

* * *

 ** _Night_**

This was the exact kind of situation that Caleb wanted to avoid. Being forced to camp at their destination at night, with only a bonfire to maintain them with heat and light. They all have their weapons at hand, expecting an attack. But that attacker, who they knew that was there, wasn't attacking. The sensation of dread impregnated the air, but there was no movement. And the enemy was near; each member of the Elite could sense the movement of the attacker, circling around them like a mad dog waiting to strike.

The enemy was big, and it was clear it wasn't a person. At first Caleb had thought that it was Cedric himself, creeping around in the dark using his snake form, but that wasn't the case. Whatever this thing was, it had a lot of legs, and used them to walk rather badly; so it must be something way heavy, or even overweight. Its respiration was hard and erratic, like the one of an sick old man in his death bed, fighting to breath properly to no avail.

They were waiting; both the soldiers, and the beast. Waiting for an opening; it seemed like whatever It was, just had gotten tired of waiting, because it trailed back and left the scene; granting the soldier some well received sleep.

They woke up several hours later. The sound of the footsteps had returned. The bonfire had almost burned out; just a few weak flames remaining, not enough to properly illuminate the area that the six of them were occupying.

"Protect the fire" whispered Caleb. "If whatever that thing is gets to turn it off, we are dead."

And so, the group of six men formed a circle around the fire. Focusing on the dark outside the light of the fire, the six companions could gasp the form of whatever was circling around them. It was big, they knew that already. But instead of legs, they saw a multitude of arms that were sustaining the enormous form of It. It had no legs, walking in Its multitude of palms…

"Caleb, _what_ is that thing?" asked Tynar, a little frightened.

"I don't know. It could be anything. Maybe a shapeshifter or another type of monster that Cedric had gathered to his side." said the young commander.

"Maybe it _ate_ the townsfolk?" asked Julian, sounding both concerned and angry.

Raythor and Vathek shuddered upon that remark. They were really tired of people being eaten alive. One thing was killing like a person, like a man, even in cold blood. But eating? Eating was proper of beasts, not men. They feared that their world could be becoming not a battlefield, but a feast to horrid animalistic monstrosities.

After circling closer and closer, It described one final circle around the area illuminated by the bonfire; and then it stopped. Then, slowly and cautiously, It stepped into the light. It wasn't a shapeshifter. It wasn't an animalistic monstrosity. It was something much _worse_.

There, in front of the Elite Squad, stood a giant bulb of shaggy and dried flesh; of almost eight meters tall. And in the bulb of flesh, they were dried and shaggy faces. Without teeth or eyes, the faces were all breathing hardly at their own rhythm, and the mixed result of all of them was the erratic breathing that they have heard before. The bulb of mixed faces was resting into a hundredth of arms and hands that, like the legs of a centipede, helped the thing to stand up. It was both fearsome and repulsive.

"Who" said one of the faces.

"Are" said another one.

"You" said a third one.

"What-are-you-doing-in-my-house?" asked the collective of faces, speaking one in their own tone of voice and at their own rate; making the collective result to not sound at the same time; adding horror to the already monstrous being.

No member of the Squad spoke. The thing waited a little longer. "Sssssspeaaaaaak!" shrieked the monstrosity, demanding an answer.

"We…" started Caleb. He then gulped and gathered courage. "We are emissaries from Queen Elyon's Court. I'm Captain Caleb. These are my father Julian, Captains Raythor and Vathek; and also Tynar and Gorlois." Caleb signaled to every one of his companions. It was clear that the young man was going to take advantage of the apparently ability of reasoning that the creature had. "We came here looking for a man named Cedric. He uses to be accompanied by a girl named Miranda…"

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!" said the creature, sounding enthusiastic. "I-remember-Mr.-Cedric-and-Miss-Miranda!"

"Were they here?" asked the former rebel leader. His grip around his sword's hilt was tightening, and his companions did the same with their weapons. "Are they still here?"

"No-no-no-no. But-they-were" said the creature. "They-came-and-took-me. Mr.-Cedric-said-that-he-would-make-me-strong! And-that-i-would-be-able-to-play!"

"Excuse me" said then Raythor. "But, how old are you?" asked the veteran soldier.

"Five" said the creature.

"Five decades? Centuries?" asked Gorlois, expecting the thing to be some sort of eldritch thing that had been awakened by Cedric using his new acquired powers.

"Five" said the creature again with irregular voice. "My-name-is-Rob-and-I'm-five."

The Elite Squad froze. It was a child, just a child. But how? "Rob…" said then Julian. "Why did you say that you would be able to play?"

"Because-I-couldn't-walk." said the creature, now naming itself Rob. "Mr.-Cedric-promised-me-that-I-could-walk-if-I-helped-him-and-Miss-Miranda."

"What about the townsfolk?" asked Tynar.

"I- _AM_ -the-townsfolk." said Rob. "They-were-mean-to-me-anyway. And-now-they-are-ME."

And it hit Raythor. The old soldier got exactly what was happening. "Sandpit…" whispered the old Galhot.

"What?" asked Caleb, whispering too. It seemed that Rob didn't have a very good hearing.

"It's like what Nerissa did to Sandpit in order to give him conscience." Raythor made a horrified face. "But instead of sand…"

"Dear Gods" muttered Vathek, completely horrified at what Cedric must have done. He could see it like it was just in front of him. The blond man walking into the village with Miranda by his side; the two of them looking normal and friendly. Then they had probably met Rob, a little kindly kid without the ability to walk, or without legs. A child envious of the other children, who could walk and play. Probably ostracized due to his condition. And then Cedric lends him his hand, and says to the boy "I will make you walk. And then, everyone will be your friend." and the child taking the hand. Then Cedric and Miranda sneak around at night, and the snake-man sucks out the energy from the people with the Siphoning powers he had retained from Phobos to kill them all and gather more energy. And after that, after all the town except for Rob is dead, Cedric takes the corpses, wrinkled and old, around Rob. With a blast of Quintessence, Cedric gathered the bodies around Rob, transforming him into what he now was. A single soul commanding a living mountain of corpses; that was what Rob was.

"Do-you-want-to-play-in-me-too?" asked Rob. And for the first time in the whole conversation, the sensation of dread overpowered the one of repulsion.

Rob advanced rather fast considering how hard it must been to control all those hands. Shrieking, the child-monstrosity started to attack them. His attacks were rather clumsy and chaotic, but considering he was just a five years old child, that was expected. The six members of the Squad remained in circle, dodging enough to evade the onslaughts and the blows of the hands that he didn't need to walk and that just hanged from random spots of his body like they were useless warts.

Gorlois moved his axe and was able to cut one of the arms. It fell to the ground and crumbled into dust. Rob screamed in pain, three of his multiple remaining hands getting to the wound albeit it wasn't bleeding. It seemed like Cedric hadn't retired the sense of pain from the boy's new body. If something, it looked increased… "My-arm!" shrieked Rob. "I-was-going-to-play-with-it!" And the child-monster charged again.

Caleb looked at it go towards them. He needed to think how to take on a monstrous child that thought about killing them as nothing but a game. ´Hardening his grip over his sword, Caleb looked at Vathek. "Vathek! How much alcohol do you have?!"

"What does that have to do with-?" asked the blue Galhot, but then looked at the almost dying flames. Smirking, the hulking man opened his jacket, revealing a full set of pockets inside it, all of them containing each a little bottle of alcohol. "Enough for what you want to do!"

Ignoring the fact that Vathek was carrying enough alcohol to knock down a gargoyle; Caleb shouted. "Then you know what to do! Everyone, protect Vathek!"

The other four members did as ordered, protecting Vathek and distracting Rob, landing some usual blows on him. The absence of blood from them and Rob's shrieks, that sounded exactly like a child's, made it look rather nightmarish, but they didn't really have time to be unnerved by it. Meanwhile distracted, Vathek was throwing the flasks of alcohol to Rob, and they were breaking against him, soaking his wrinkled skin in the ale that the flask contained. When there were no more flasks, Rob was completely dirtied in ale; and the last movement was for no one other that Caleb.

"Hey Rob! What about playing some good old tag?!" said Caleb from across the field. Just pass the bonfire. Shrieking, Rob charged again. Then one of his hands touched the fire. And then another, and another one after that one. And Rob lit in fire.

"Ah! It's-burning! Meanies! You're-all-meanies!" shouted the child-monstrosity in pain, while being crisped and engulfed by the flames.

The Elite Squad looked at the enormous flame that the alcohol-soaked Rob had created when he had touched the fire. The odor of burned meat invaded the otherwise night's fresh air. "Man, he sure does stink!" commented Gorlois with cruelty, getting the glares of everyone of his companions sans Caleb. "What?" asked the dark-skinned Galhot.

"Have some respect for the dead, you idiot" scolded Raythor.

"Listen, you old…" said Gorlois, raising his fist a little, but he got stopped by Caleb, who took it in order to contain his companion.

"Enough. We are done in this village" Caleb started to walk, completely disappointed. "It's clear that Cedric isn't here. We will camp in the town's buildings and tomorrow we will depart with the first lights of the day."

The six companions started to leave. But then Julian heard a sound behind them. He turned around, but before he could tell anything, Rob was (albeit scorched) in his feet once again. Producing his usual shriek, the child-monstrosity launched his remaining hands, which were still numerous. Five members of the Squad hit the ground. The sixth one, Caleb himself, was wrapped between two of Rob's hands. "You-don't-want-to-play?! Fine! Then-I-will-break-you-like-the-useless-toy-you-are!"

Rob started to apply pressure over Caleb's body. When the others tried to attack Rob to free him, the child-monstrosity just turned around with the majority of his hands extended and punched them, making the five of them to be launched far away from the area that the fie illuminated.

Rob raised Caleb to his mass-faced bulb-like body, facing him with the multiple faces that he had. "Stupid-toy! Stupid-toy!" repeated and repeated the child-monstrosity; putting more and more of his hands into the grip that he was using to try and crush Caleb. It was at that time, losing air from his lungs, and the grip on his sword losing so much strength that the weapon fell to the ground; that Caleb realized that Rob had been doing what he had said he was doing. Playing. Now he wasn't playing; now he was angry. And Caleb was the target of that wrath.

"Crush-you! Crush-you! I'm-going-to-make-you-into-pulp!" said the child-monstrosity.

Caleb was losing too much air. Gazing back he saw his father and the others coming right towards him, weapons raised. But his vision was starting to become blurry, his limbs losing sense. And then he started to hallucinate. There are some ones who say that, when you are in the verge of dying, you tend to see your live to pass in front of your eyes. But they are wrong. You only see the moments that matter. A friendship being made, a battle being won; a father being rescued; and of course the love of your live. " _Cornelia_ " thought Caleb, seeing her jut in front of him, smiling. Strong, brave, intelligent. Gods, he loved her more than everything. Then the grip tightened, and Caleb was almost going to lose consciousness…

But then a beam of pure white light severed Rob's arms; and the young commander fell to the ground, semi-conscious. He looked at the sky, and when Cornelia's image started to fade away from his mind, it was Elyon's which took her place. After that, he fell unconscious.

"Her Majesty!" shouted Raythor in joy; him and the others finally catching with Caleb.

In truth, it was the Queen of Meridian, floating in the night sky; shinning so strongly that she transformed the night of the village and its surroundings into day. Raising her glowing palm, the Queen faced Rob from high. "Don't you dare to lay a hand on MY people!" shouted the Queen, firing a potent torrent of light towards the child-monstrosity.

"So… bright…" said Rob, while being annihilated, his voice sounding like the one of a child for the first time. After the blinding light dispersed, Rob was nothing more than a pile of ashes. Elyon ceased to glow and descended towards the ground. There, she greeted the Elite Squad.

"Her Highness, how did you-?" asked Tynar.

"I placed a track spell upon Caleb last night in order to maintain him under vigilance if things get complicated." Elyon looked at the knocked out young man. "Better take you all back to Carhaiz. I don't think that he is in good shape."

The men gathered. "Hey, before we go, what about the hors-?" Gorlois' sentence was cut off by the teleporting of the group; the green light of the teleportation illuminating one last time the now complete dead village before it faded and the town fell dark and silent once again.

* * *

Watching these events' development was Cedric, alongside Miranda. In his dragon form, the empowered shapeshifter was standing in the top of a tree, Miranda in her human form. Arms folded and wings spread free in order to maintain balance and the raven-haired girl in his back with her arms around his neck, the dragon and the spider had been observing the so-called Elite Squad since they had exited Carhaiz. Raythor looked as in shape as he was before falling into the Abyss of Shadows, and Vathek seemed to have developed some type of alcoholism. But the most interesting thing was that it seemed to be some tension between them and that Gorlois. An explotable weakness, perhaps? He would need to comment that to Elyon.

Speaking of Elyon, he must admit that if there was something that all Escanors seemed to have in common it was there predilection for flashy entrances. Still, the Queen's adaptation to his creation of Rob had been rather spectacular. At first he had wanted to use Rob as nothing more than an experiment and a trap for the Rebellion, though Cedric always reminded himself that that there wasn't a Rebellion anymore.

But when Enlyon entrusted him and Miranda with the duty to generar both despair and joy, he couldn't have thought of a better thing than Rob. Or was out there a deeper despair than the one felt by a child who cannot enjoy the blessings of childhood? Was there a brighter joy than the one felt by that very child when he was finally able to move?

Perhaps the despair felt by a party that almost loses their captain? Or the joy of soldiers that see their ruler step into battle like an angel from heaven and save said captain?

"Are you sure that we can trust her?" asked Miranda to Cedric. "If I were her I would like to see us both dead."

"She hasssss changed" hissed Cedric. Even in his new form, he had maintained that hissing. "We're better with her than againssssssst her."

"Is there someone in this world that is really against her?" asked Miranda.

"I suppossssse not." said Cedric.

"Hehe." laughed the girl. "I like that."

"Yes, yessssss. I know." hissed Cedric. "It would be better if we headed back to Carhaiz now."

"Umhum..." mussed Miranda, rubbing one of her cheeks against Cedric's neck."Yeah. Our bed is waiting for us. And don't worry about the experiment." she kissed him sweetly. "You will be better than that Crossnic witch in no time."

"Thank you" hissed Cedric kindly, and flapping his wings, the two of them started to fly away.

* * *

 ** _A room in the Military Academy of Carhaiz_**

 ** _Next morning_**

Caleb woke up slowly. His body was in pain, and he was bandaged in many parts of his body, primarily the torso. He started to stand up, trying to sit in the bed instead of lying down. But a voice stopped him.

"You shouldn't so that." he heard his father's voice. "You have various ribs broken, and I suppose that the best you could do would be to stay in bed and move the less possible. Then again, I'm no doctor."

Caleb looked to his side, and saw his father sitting in a small chair near one of the room's corers. It was a small room, very similar to the one that Elyon had used the night before. Of course, none of the cadets needed more. That was part of the lifestyle of a soldier.

"But, the monster-!" exclaimed Caleb, trying to stand up, but the pain in his ribs due to the sudden movement put him down again. "Ahk!" shouted the young man in pain.

"I told you not to move" said Julian, raising from his seat and approaching Caleb. "See?" said the bearded man, pressing one of the sides of Caleb's ribcage with his finger, making Caleb scream in pain again.

"What did you do that for?!" yelled Caleb to his father.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" said Julian. His expression was hard and his voice was too. The angriness of his tone was only surpassed by the one that could be seen in his eyes. "You almost got crushed by that thing's hands. And you want to know why?"

Caleb didn't say anything. His father was usually calm, kind and reasonable. He wasn't accustomed to see him this angry. "Because you turned your back to an enemy. A dangerous one, by the way. Why?"

Caleb didn't answer this time either. "Aren't you going to say anything? Well, I will explain it to you." continued Julian. "It's because Cedric wasn't there. Because you judged the whole mission useless once you realized that Cedric wasn't there. Because you thought that the battle was ended once you thought that it was pointless to fight if Cedric wasn't the prize."

"But-!" protested Caleb.

"HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TRY AND AVENGE ALDARN IF YOU ARE DEAD?!" shouted Julian with his entire lung's might. Outside the room, various passers heard it, but decided to ignore it.

Inside the room, Caleb was looking at his father with something very similar to fear. Even if he was a trained soldier, even if he had lived all his life running from battle to battle; he was also a young man; a boy who had not yet abandoned completely his adolescence. And there is nothing that an adolescent fears more than the justified wrath of a parent. Julian composed himself, and get to the door. "If it wasn't for the Queen's intervention, you would be dead right now. So be glad that she was smarter than you." Julian took a deep breath. "From this moment onwards, I will take command over you and the rest of the Elite Squad; at least until we have returned to the capital and the Queen has started to head to Sonder Hill. Rest and try not aggravate your injuries."

"Wait!" said Caleb. "You can't take command over me so easily! Just because I have failed once; I doesn't give you the right to-!"

"Now listen to me, boy!" said Julian. "Yes, I can; and the others are fine with it. I won't let you throw your life away like that. I won't applaud and cheer for every one of your actions, and I won't let you to think that the mistakes you make can be forgotten so easily when you put yours and everyone else's lives in danger! I will tell you that you are stupid if you have been acting stupid." Julian opened the door and directed one last gaze upon his injured son. "Because _I_ am _your_ father."

And the door closed behind him.

* * *

 ** _The capital_**

Drake was feeling more and more disturbed with each one he saw. What was he seeing? Corpses, of course. In the course of one day, more and more corpses were appearing in the streets of the capital. At first it was just like the first one, members of the Guard whose torsos burst out from the inside. And so, it was easy to hide. But then it started to affect the commoners. Workers in the castle, then artisans of the market, and in the end people that were just walking in the streets. And by that time, the information couldn't be hidden anymore.

The symptoms were all the same. The same bursting from inside; the ribs opened like a gate's doors, and the organs (heart, lungs, stomach, intestines…) completely gone. Drake had thought that it was only one beast but then he started to receive reports of bodies founded in opposite extremes of the city in a too narrow timeframe to be that. So the only deductible answer was that there was more than one.

Ban and Bors were now in front of him; the three men in his chambers in the castle, looking over both the books with detailed descriptions of the beast folk of Meridian and the reports of the killings. Just one day. In just one fucking day the number of victims had escalated to thirty. Now the morgue had twenty-nine more corpses, and Drake had twenty-nine new families at his throat, demanding justice. And that wasn't counting the other population of the capital, terrorized of the fact that there was such a vicious killing machine out there. The reports even detailed how one man had gone into such a depressive state from seeing his wife going ill, and seeing her torso literally explode; that he won't talk to anybody. This fact enraged Drake, because that man could possibly be the only witness of the beast. If he only had the smallest clue…

"Sir, sir!" said Ban and Bors at the same time.

Drake looked at them. They were very similar in appearance. They were brothers; that seemed irrefutable. The two must been in their middle-thirties or possibly forties; or at least that was how they looked. Ban had his long auburn hair wrapped into a ponytail, his face as smooth as a baby's. He wore a set of clothes that made him look like a minister, even if it was clear that he was a Lieutenant due to the large spear that he used as a weapon and the insignia in his torso that marked him as that.

Bors, in the other hand, looked rather clumsy for a soldier. Someone could even say that he looked unkempt and scruffy. He sported a bad cut beard, and in contrast with his brother, his hair was a messy mass of peaks and curls. He was considerably more muscular than his sibling. Drake supposed that it had to do with the fact that his weapons, instead of a sword, an axe or a spear, were a pair of big and heavy rectangular shields; one for each arm. And albeit their differences, both siblings loved each other, and he had been informed that they were the definition of teamwork in battle. Also, they were both pretty reliable.

"What is it?" asked Drake to the pair.

Bors lend Drake a book. It was an old and wasted one. The covers were unreadable. The brothers had marked a page in it, though. "I think we have found the culprit, sir."

Drake opened the book from the page it was marked. Albeit the image in it was damaged by the time and the dust, what depicted could still be seen. The image depicted a man at the side of a cage, possibly to proportionate an idea of how large the animal was in comparison with an average man's body. It was the image of something very similar to a rat; if rats were as big as small dogs and instead of fur they had black scales, four red glowing eyes in its forehead and fangs as sharp as a Lurden's.

"If you read the following pages" said Ban "you will find out that they were called Afanc. And don't let their appearance to fool you. They were amphibians that lived in lakes or small rivers, only going to land to prey into smaller beings. Their method of gestation, however..."

"Don't tell me" said Drake. "They use the bodies of larger animals in order to feed their un-gestated brethren."

"In fact" continued the man with a ponytail "the Afanc put their eggs, which are rather small, in the water of their homes, other animals drink that water and..."

"And the eggs hatch inside said animals" Drake sighed. His mind was thinking as fast as a lightning. "But I have never heard of this kind of animal before."

"That's the thing, sir." said Bors. "They are supposed to be extinct, exterminated almost three centuries ago."

"Then how?" asked Drake.

"If you turn another pair of pages, sir... you will see another one of those extinct species." said Ban.

There was something odd in the tone of that sentence. Drake did as indicated and passed to the next chapter. In it another beast was depicted, this one a dog of small proportions, clearly meant to be fast and durable. The most remarkable thing was its snout, large as no one else. And the black fur-less skin, and the greenish eyes. Too familiar, too known and seen so many times.

"Sniffer..." said Drake into a whisper.

"The technical name... it's Sniffing Hound. Also exterminated three hundred years ago. Along with a rare type of bats..."

Drake rubbed his temples. He knew what that meant. The Queen was marching to Sonder Hill, and the rest of the High Commanding (or as they called themselves while in secret missions, the Elite Squad) would last at least one more day, maybe two. He snorted. "Do you know someone who is fast and good with a horse?" asked Drake.

"We do" said the pair in unison.

"Good." He went to his desk and started to write two letters. He handed one of them to the pair of brothers and kept the last one to himself. "Hand this one to Captain Alborn and no one else. When Caleb and the others return, hand it to them and no one else. I have the feeling that these walls have eyes. Explain this to Captain Alborn as I have explained to you. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" said the pair.

"Well, now if I could know the place where I can find this rider. I would like to have a pair of words with him." said Drake.

The brothers chuckled. "Her, sir." said Bors, quite delighted.

"Excuse you?" asked Drake.

"The rider is a she" said Ban. "The best rider of the militia, and a pretty good teacher with the spear, I must add."

"Who...?" asked Drake.

Both brothers smirked. "Just go to the barracks and ask for..."

* * *

"Isolde! The winner is Isolde!" shouted one man as another, this one with a wrecked armor, a sweated body under it and a body full of bleeding wounds and hits, hit the ground. Two guards dragged him out of the training arena, leaving his winning opponent alone.

Standing unscratched in the center of the training arena, a practice spear supported over her shoulders and both arms in it, was a tall woman in her late twenties, with long orange hair and a mild-tanned skin. A body built for and from fighting, her muscles could be seen clearly under her clothes, a dirtied pair of pants and a sweated white shirt. The sweat made it rather transparent, making her 'female assets' rather... appreciable. If someone thought that a life at the service of the Rebellion could make a woman less feminine or attractive... they had never met this woman. The worked musculature only enhanced her beauty.

Isolde, that was her name, smirked at her competitor's total defeat. "Someone else?!" yelled the woman, rotating her spear from her shoulders and, holding it in her right hand, she smacked it against the ground. The possible competitors, all of them trained guards that trained there, trailed back; quite scared about the prospect of facing the woman again.

Laughing, Isolde lifted her training spear and left the arena. Outside it her things were awaiting her over a table. Her real spear, longer than the one used in training and sharp as the deadliest of knives; and her armor too; although it wasn't as thick and heavy as the one used by regular soldiers. She wasn't as buff as a Galhot, and she took advantage of it, having only a hauberk and a thick plat of armor for the legs and the forearms. It really gave an advantage to be faster than your enemy.

"To be fair" said a voice behind her "you have just beaten a full armored soldier with a stick. I would be scared too."

Turning around, Isolde saw Drake. The two of them looked at each other for a brief moment. Then Isolde spoke. "Captain Drake of the High Commanding." said the woman, her voice taking into a serious tone that denoted certain animosity. "It's rare seeing some of you here if it's not for training. Old Guiron is not here anymore, Captain Caleb and Captain Julian expend less and less time with the men... so, to what I own the honor?"

Drake frowned a little upon the woman's sentence and tone of voice. He wasn't the arrogant type, but he liked to be respected. Lately, there had been some tension between the lower commanders and the ones that composed Queen Elyon's inner circle of military advisors, also known as High Commanding. Some were bitter because half that commanding were just young men that had just entered adulthood. Others because they were members of the former Rebellion that had been ascended only because they have been part of the Rebellion. Drake knew that there were far better men to be in his position than him, great strategist and fighters that were positioned in the frontiers, living and dying defending them from savages or Lurden incursions. But this was his position, and he was the responsible. No time for 'what ifs'.

"Could we talk into a more private place?" asked Drake.

"If you insist; _sir._ " answered Isolde, not hiding the displeasure in her voice, signaling to her superior to follow her. She was having such a good morning!

The two of them walked to a less packed out part of the barracks. Isolde leaned against a wood made wall, a leg recoiled and the other one extended, she crossed her arms.

Noticing this behavior, Drake tried to, as the earthling saying goes, 'break the ice'. "You were pretty excited back in the arena" commented Drake. "It was a good fight."

"That wasn't a fight." said Isolde. "That was a spar session. If that had been a fight I would simply had gone for the neck and behead him in one blow."

"With a training spear… made of wood?" asked Drake, quite amused.

"Yes" said the woman plainly, as it was the most normal thing in the world.

"That's... a little arrogant, isn't it?"

Isolde snorted. "I'm not arrogant. I'm prideful. You members of the High Commanding should try it sometimes. Try and be proud of your accomplishments, instead of running to the Guardians every time you need help."

Drake raised an eyebrow at that. Isolde shook her head. "Sorry _sir_ , it was nothing. Why did you want to talk to me?

"Lieutenants Ban and Bors had told me that you are the best rider that we have." Isolde didn't say anything to contradict that sentence. "I will take that as a 'yes'. Listen," Drake lend her a paper "I need you to take this to the near village, to Brocéliande. Hand it to the lead of the apothecaries. He would lend you a pitcher with a series of herbs. You have to come back to the capital, go to the sewers and put the herbs into the main pond of water that..."

"Sir" interrupted Isolde. "Why is that necessary?"

"Have you heard about the deaths of thirty people from yesterday to today?" asked Drake. Isolde nodded silently. "It's the water." answered the man.

"What?" asked Isolde, incapable of believing it. "It's poison or…?"

"No" silenced her Drake, gaining a glare from the woman. She didn't like to be interrupted like that. "There are animals in the water, dangerous ones. They hatch their eggs by using the bodies or larger animals; in this case us. They put their eggs into water and..."

"I can put the rest together. And these herbs… how do they fit in this?"

"The herbs" continued Drake "create a very powerful reaction in water, making it boil. If a human drank it, it would only burn his throat; and a Galhot shouldn't even note a difference. But small things in the water…"

"They will die." said Isolde. "But why not simply close the water system and purge the plague?"

"No; that could took to much time, and I don't know if it could last if the reason behind these animals appearance isn't removed." retorted Drake bluntly. "I can't ask the citizens to last _entire days_ without water supply. There are children, and also elders. This is the fastest solution. That's the reason I'm recurring to you. So can you do it or not?"

"Yes" answered Isolde, showing the first trace of respect for Drake in the whole conversation. 2How much time I have?"

"I'll give you eight hours" said the commander.

"I will have it in six" answered the woman. She wasn't leaning against the wall anymore. She was just standing there, fist clenched, looking with decision to Drake.

"Well, this meant that this part is settled." said Drake. "Have a nice trip, Lady Isolde."

The woman blushed a little upon that remark. No one had ever called her Lady. "Wait, sir." said the woman. There wasn't animosity in the word anymore. "Where are you going now?"

"Me? Don't worry" said Drake. "I'm just going to try to be smarter than a demon."

* * *

 ** _The Capital's sewers_**

The Infinite City wasn't the only superstructure that dwelled and traversed through Meridian's underground. Under the Capital, there were the sewers, and the intricate system of pipes, channels and other machinery meant to treat and deliver the water to the citizens.

In this labyrinthine place full of metal and running water, Drake was searching for the primal pond of water; the great underground spring of water that the city used to satisfy the townsfolk thirst. Looking at the artificially created rivers that flowed in the stone, he saw a pair of the Afanc in the water, swimming into the same direction he was walking.

He had brought his sword, but a part of him was telling him that it could only be dead weight. Another part of him was yelling, shouting to him to turn back and run as fast as he could. And it was doing it at _every one_ of Drake's steps. He could note his heart going faster, his skin sweating cold. But he didn't stop, or turn back. He continued to walk, slowly but relentlessly; into the predators lair.

After almost an entire hour walking, Drake finally reached the pong. It was a circular one, a natural water spring transformed artificially into a reservation of pure crystalline water that then it was redistributed in multiple channels that went to each corner of the Capital, bringing water to everyone. And now, also the spawn of the Afanc. Drake looked at the pond; the little amphibians that looked like massive scaled rats were swimming and splashing the water. Even if predators, they were still animals and they enjoyed their lives. The disturbing thing was at the side of the pond. Feeding the Afanc was a large figure of green wrinkled and dried skin. With red-glowing eyes and exposed teeth, the being was clothed into an old and traditional hunter attire, hat included. There, tossing pieces of meat to the Afanc, was the Tracker.

Upon noticing the human, the undead finished feeding the Afanc and looked at Drake, one of his wrinkled and sickening green hands in the hilt of his flaming sword. Drake looked at the weapon, knowing that what Raythor and Vathek had been telling was not an exaggeration. There really were flaming and screaming faces in that sword's blade.

Both human and undead stayed like that for a moment. "You are" broke Tracker the silence "an intelligent prey." His raspy voice sounded pronounced in the silence of the sewers; only the murmur of the running water to accompany their sounds. "How did you figure out so fast?"

"There was a book depicting the Afanc that also depicted your dog and the bats you usually used back in your raids and hunts. I saw them very close during the attack of the Knights of Vengeance over Sonder Hill. All of them, the dog, the bats, and those…" Drake made a vague gesture towards the Afanc " _rats_. All of them are supposed to be extinct; _three hundred years ago_. There was no other explanation to their presence than you."

Tracker grinned, or at least his dried face contorted into something very similar to a happy expression. It was really hard to tell, considering that his face looked like a corpse's. "Intelligent; very intelligent. I suppose that it was that kind of intelligence that made you able to kill me last time. I said it to Raythor, but I haven't the chance to tell you personally. It was a pretty original and imaginative way of dealing with me." Tracker took a few steps away from the pond, using his sword as a cane. Following closer to his feet was Sniffer, hound and hunter never apart from each other. The hound showed his fangs to Drake, spitting foam. It was clear that, even if Tracker judged his last dead 'amusing' and complimented Drake for it, his dog really hadn't like the fact that he had spent so much time without his master.

"Thank you." said Drake. "It wasn't so easy for me. You stink worse than a Passling."

Sniffer growled, but didn't bark. Tracker stared into Drake for a moment, before a dry and sinister laugh escaped from his throat. It wasn't a pleasant experience for the ears. "Taunts won't serve you with me, youngster." Tracker put both his hands in the hilt of his sword, preparing to impact it against the ground. "I never let a prey go, I never stop, and I never have doubts." Tracker raised his sword. "And we both know that you aren't the prey, but the bait."

"I was counting on that" said Drake. "Your obsession with your preys will be your downfall."

"We will see…" muttered Tracker before lowering his sword. Upon impacting with the ground, human, undead and hound were enveloped by a green light and teleported away.

* * *

 ** _The road to Brocéliande_**

 ** _A woman and her horse_**

Galloping across the road to Brocéliande; spear at the back, was Isolde, mounting a black horse. It was just a horse she had picked from the stables at the Capital. She didn't have a horse that held a preferred spot in her heart. She didn't need it, and she didn't want it. Albeit she was kind to them and liked the animal, she didn't want to have a favorite one. It weren't your preferences and bonds the facts that had to determine you picking an animal over other. What mattered were the animal's skills; or at least that was what Isolde thought. If a horse was faster, or more durable than other, then that better horse was the better choice, the one you have to pick. Isolde didn't think any different for people, either. If a blacksmith was better than any other one, then it was clear who you had to ask to craft your weapons and armor. If there was a better soldier, then it was clear to whom the others must follow.

That was the reason behind her distaste of how Meridian had been in the late years. She had lived through the entire of Phobos' tyranny. If Phobos had been a better monarch than Weira, then she would have followed him. But Phobos had been nothing more than a pampered brat with delusions of grandeur in Isolde's eyes. So she turned to the rebellion, and the rebellion turned to be better than Phobos. And then appeared the Guardians. And the Guardians didn't turn as well as she thought. Sure, in time Phobos was defeated, but Isolde hold that fact as a result of The Light of Meridian's intervention. The land become the paradise of her childhood again, the rivers crystalline, the skies blue and the wind fresh and alive.

Then Elyon got captured, and taken away from her home. And what did the Guardians then? Fail. Again and again, they failed to no avail. And when Phobos returned to power? They let him be, doing as he pleased, in a pathetic scheme that, in the end, backfired. Sure, they defeated Cedric, but who had to suffer and work again like slaves under the tyrant because of their plan? The people. Isolde herself between them

One of her hands reached to her tight shoulder. Under the hauberk and the clothing, there was a large scar in that part of her body. She had made it working in the construction of the Great Ring. Where were the Guardians then? Nowhere.

And so, they weren't the best for her world. Who was the best then? No one knew. But she tried to be. In order for what happened with the tyrant to not happen again; in order from what happened with the witch Nerissa to not happen again, in order for not be in need of Guardians again… then she would train all day and night. She would become better and better, until she was the best and to be of use to her world.

When Drake, a member of the High Commanding had come to her, she had reacted bitterly to him. She didn't hold the High Commanding in very good esteem. For her, the were just lucky people that hadn't really earned their position. She could understand Caleb's and Vathek's; even Tynar's whose deflection proved vital to their first triumph over the tyrant… but Gorlois', Raythor's or even Guiron's. Guiron was a veteran, so she could at least rationalize it as a symbolic decision, but Raythor have been part of Phobos' forces! And she had heard very dark stories about Gorlois and his unit. Of what they did to the enemies they captured, to the women…

And finally was Drake. Drake the strategist, Drake the thinker… The crammer, and also the plodder. Those were only some of his monikers. In Meridian, especially in the low-ranked militia, brawns had always outwitted brains. She didn't think any different… until their meeting. What she saw wasn't a weak man drowned in book pages, no. She saw a responsible and capable commander, a man worried about the people and that was willing to put his life in first line for them. And _he_ had recurred to _her_ for help. She couldn't let him down now. If he did, she couldn't look proud never again.

She spurred her horse, and with the reins, she made the animal to deviate from the road. The reason that she was the best wasn't only that she picked the best mounts, or that she was the best with reins. No, it was that she was intelligent, too. Not in the same manner as Drake, because she really didn't know how to read; but she knew the shortcuts, the secret paths among the forests and the mountains. She knew her home, she knew Meridian; and she could make any animal to go through it.

Had she said six hours? She would make it in five!

* * *

 ** _The way from Carhaiz to the Capital_**

 ** _Next morning_**

His father had tricked him. Instead of departing with the rest of the Squad, Caleb and Julian had let them an hour of advantage. The travel from Carhaiz wasn't an exodus, but it was long enough to allow a good conversation between father and son. Of course, Caleb wasn't going to talk so easily. For the first half an hour, both had remained silent, and Caleb hoped that they could remain that way. Of course, Julian had an objection to that.

"You know that I was right." said the father.

The son looked at his side, not wanting to make eye contact with his progenitor. Julian sighed. He wasn't very good at this. He had been absent of Caleb's life for so long… "Caleb" called the bearded man again. "You know that I was right."

"Doesn't make it any better, _old man_." said the young commander. The last two words were clearly chosen purposely. He always called Julian 'father' in front of the men, or 'dad' in private. Always with respect, always with caring. But not now; now it was plain sarcastic and disrespecting… even insulting.

"Then what was I supposed to do?!" asked Julian, quite enraged. "Clap you in the back while saying 'well done, son!' at the fact that you almost threw your life away?!"

"No!" shouted Caleb too, closing his eyes. "But you have no right to do that! To… use _his_ name against me!" shouted an outraged Caleb.

"Caleb; I know that you are enraged about Aldarn's death, and that you want to avenge him, but your behavior lately has been…"

Caleb didn't want to hear the remaining words that were going to fly out of his father's mouth. Instead, he decided to spur his horse and flee from Julian's company at top speed. Leaving him meters of advance due to the surprise that his son's action had caused in him, Julian spurred his horse to, following after his boy. "Caleb!" shouted the father "Caleb, stop!"

But the young man didn't listen. Caleb continued to ride, faster and faster. At one moment, he made his horse to take a diversion from the main road, heading to the plains at the roads side. There, the horse sensed trouble, quite the big rock in the way. Of course, Caleb hadn't seen it. That made the young soldier to not ride his mount out of the rock's way and the horse to stop in his tracks to evade pain. Te laws of physics played a cruel joke in Caleb then, making him to go flying out of his mount and crash against the ground, the grass and the dirt dirtying him.

"Caleb!" yelled a concerned Julian. He had reached his son and now was dismounting from his horse as fast as he could. Running towards Caleb, who was still with his face against the dirt, Julian kneeled. "Are you all right?!"

Julian raised and lipped backwards in enough time to evade Caleb's kick. The young man, face dirtied, raised from the ground and looked at is father with the angriest of faces. "You don't understand!" shouted the young man. "You don't get it… Aldarn was the first friend that I have! The one that always remained by my side! In those day in the camp, when I thought you died, when I knew nothing about commanding and yet the Rebels put me at the head of their army! And yet… and yet…" a bunch of tears flowed from Caleb's eyes "and yet, that bastardly snake killed him! I won't stop at nothing to avenge him! I won't stop at nothing until I see him dead!"

Caleb threw a punch towards his father. "And you take command from me?!"

Julian blocked his son's fist, deflecting it to his side. "I took command from you because that way of thinking is dangerous! That man that gave you that information, you and Gorlois tortured him, right?!"

Caleb looked even more enraged, throwing more punches towards Julian. "I didn't! Not anymore than necessary!"

"Have you just heard yourself, you idiot?!" shouted Julian, blocking aid punches, albeit with more difficulty than the first one. "You are sounding exactly like your mother right now!"

 _That_ stopped Caleb for a while, but in the end proved worse. "Of course I sound like her!" said Caleb, engaging into a more vicious and savage attack against Julian. This time, a few punches made contact, and Caleb was able to destabilize his father a little. " _She was here_! I didn't know who she was, but she was here! Encouraging me, supporting me! ' _The son of the great Julian, a hero of the battlefield_ '! Do you know how hard is to live to that standard?! Do you know how hard was for me to try and not get all of them killed, how hard it was for me to make sure that none of them were captured?! No, how can you?! You were dead! Did you think about that, about what would happen to me when you wouldn't be here when you threw yourself against Tracker?!"

Julian stopped his son's attack and then smashed his head against him, disorienting Caleb. Then he punched him in the stomach's mouth, making the young man kneel and clench his torso in pain. "I was thinking that you were going to survive." said Julian, his face a mix between anger and pity. "Do you think that I didn't miss you when I was chopping minerals in those mines? Do you think that I'm not proud of what you did as the leader of the rebellion?" Julian kneeled at his son's side.

"It's still not fair!" shouted the young man; his sadness could be noted in his voice. "I thought that everything, every dirty and questionable action that I committed would be forgotten when Phobos was defeated. I thought that they were necessary, that's what she told me! And then, everything that I fought for resulted to be just a lie! I was _just created, processed_! But at least I could count on my companions! And Cedric took the best one of them away…"

Julian hugged his son. This time Caleb didn't fight. "Caleb… son." said Julian. "Son, there is nothing wrong with wanting to change things, with wanting to avenge your fallen friends. But if you take a step too far… then there will be a day that you won't be able to differentiate between you and the monsters you fight with."

The two men remained like that for a moment. Julian looked at Caleb and his expression became full of pity, no anger to be found in it. In his son's eyes, the bearded man could see the troubles of his soul, the doubts about himself and about everything that were now roaming his mind. How old was Caleb? He was going to turn eighteen very soon. That was a very young age. How many battles, deaths and looses had that very same man witnessed in only eighteen years? " _Too many_ " thought Julian.

"I'm sorry, Caleb." apologized Julian. "But I'm your father, and I will protect you." Julian looked at the sky, at the sun's position. "Come on, we need to move and catch up with the others or we will left behind and won't reach the Capital until noon."

Both men got to their feet and went to their mounts. Upon reaching the horses and mounting, Caleb looked at Julian. "Father, I…." Caleb cleared his throat. "I'm sorry too. I didn't want to attack you, I just needed to…"

"Let it all out?" asked Julian. The two have restarted their march.

"Yes" said Caleb; not annoyed about his father's habit of finishing his sentences for the first time. "I did some… gruesome thing during my commanding of the Rebellion. We all did. I thought that it was for the best, but now... After seeing Tynar and the other Guards living their lives, after seeing everyone fighting together.."

"If you need to talk about it, I'm here to listen. I always will be." said Julian.

"Thank you, dad; but I'm not certain of being prepared. Not yet." and with that both men resumed their travel.

" _Nerissa_ " thought Julian with a slight hint of hatred towards the woman who had tricked him. " _Just what the hell did you make the boy to do?_ "

The two men were riding again in the road. They had been silent since their little fight. It had been good, though. Caleb felt more relaxed after throwing his tantrum and letting his emotions finally free; and Julian felt closer to his son.

"How.. how was it?" asked then the young man. "With mother, I mean. Before I was born."

"You want to hear it? Now?" asked Julian.

"We have enough time until catching with the others. Raythor would probably wait for us at the gates of the Capital." Caleb accommodated himself in his seat, patting the animal in the neck. "It seems a good time for me"

Julian doubted a little. He had always dreamed of telling his son the story of how his parents met. Every parent dreamed of it, of telling an oversweet romantic tale to the idealistic ears of a child. But in that dream, Julian and Nerissa were together in his house, and Nerissa wasn't Nerissa, but the Mage. Instead of the dream, Julian was now with a physically matured son that hadn't yet matured totally emotionally. It could prove helpful.

"Where do I start?" said the bearded man aloud. "I think that it was a few years after Phobos' birth. I remember taking a mission with some other people to capture a bandit that had, somehow, stolen something from the castle… We were able to found him and engage him in combat, but he escaped away. Although… we were able to retrieve what he had stolen"

"What was that?" asked Caleb.

Julian looked nostalgic. "The Mage's ring."

* * *

 ** _Years ago_**

In the castle of the Escanor bloodline, a woman known only as 'The Mage' had always worked at service of each one of the Light Queens since generations. Albeit in the past she had looked rather attractive, with long platinum hair and tanned skin, the woman now serving the royal family was a being of pale skin and no hair over the head. Albeit her figure had remained the same, her voice had become almost whisper. This was related to the fact that she had almost drained herself out of energy by creating a magical item called the Star of Threbe at Queen Allora's orders. Due to this action, the Mage had gained the respect and admiration of current Queen Weira, who considered the ancient sorceress as a second mother figure. Of course, what no one knew was that the Mage, the original one, the one that had created the Star of Threbe; had died almost a year ago. Killed by the very same woman she had saved; Nerissa Crossnic, the former Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar.

Long ago, before Allora's great-grandmother's time as Queen, the Mage had served as the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar. In fact, she probably was the only member of her generation that had remained alive. Linked to the Infinite City, she had remained between the living for more time that permitted. When you live so long, and you are able to witness the horrors of the universe again and again; it's normal for you to grow compassionate. Even for a woman who killed her companion over something so trivial as power. And so, the Mage took compassion over Nerissa, freeing her out of her prison on Mount Thanos and giving her a new home in Meridian, as both her assistant and apprentice; hoping that with time, she could redeem herself and succeed her as the royal's advisor. Of course, Nerissa proved to be a paragon pupil, always so polite, always so diligent to learn and help. The Mage didn't tell anybody about Nerissa. If Kandrakar knew about her, they would put her behind bars again. No, when the Mage was going to tell Kandrakar about Nerissa, the former Keeper of the Heart would have made amends for her past crimes, and she would retire from her post, leaving Meridian's safety to her new protégé.

None of this never happened. One day, having learned not only knowledge, but how imitate the Mage's behavior; Nerissa killed her when she was sleeping. It was just the first step of the fallen Guardian's delusional plans for universal conquest (or as she liked to call it, universal union). She didn't hate her, she actually quite liked the Mage. But plans need to make sacrifices. And since that moment, Nerissa had been the Mage.

That day, Julian and other members of the militia had arrived at her workshop. Some idiot had, no one (not even the Queen) knew how in the Infinite Dimensions; stolen the Mage's Ring. It was a special Ring; it allowed people to fold to another realms, or even Kandrakar itself. So, when she heard that it was been stolen, the Mage asked Weira to send someone to recover it. Julian had been part of that search party, and since he had been the one to regain the piece of jewelry, he was the one to hand it back to the Mage.

And then, in that moment, the woman looked at him and saw… something. She didn't know exactly what it was, but it was there. A 'spark' of some kind, she figured. But there it was, in his eyes. Call it strength, call it courage, call it enthusiasm… it was so bright, like the brightness of the Heart of Kandrakar. Like Cassidy's.

When the man had completed his mission and parted from the workshop, the Mage looked at him go, joking with his companions, smiling so brightly. " _Great._ " thought the fallen Guardian with sarcasm. " _I'm in love._ "

Of course, it didn't last long until the more cunning part of her soul started to see what advantages could be taken from that emotion. She smirked and went straight to talk with Weira. She had spent so long without a good 'girl talk'.

* * *

 ** _Time after that_**

In behalf of Queen Weira, Julian had been assigned as some sort of 'errand boy' for the Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage. If she wanted something from the wild, or deliver some message to someone far away from the Capital, she appealed to Julian. At first, the man thought of it as nothing but coincidence, but then the orders became more regular, and with time, the orders delivered by a palace guard became petitions made by the Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage in person, and their interactions became more and more regular too, to the point that they saw each other even when the Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage didn't have an assignment for him. It was in those meetings, when they told stories to each other, when they talked about the mystic creatures of Meridian, when they discussed about text or the life of the Court… in those moments was when Julian realized that he had also fell in love with that smart, strong and wise woman. And actually her look didn't bother him. Hey, as the old saying goes: " _Everyone to his own taste_ ".

As for Nerissa, she had grown more attached to the man. He reminded her of Cassidy, but he was different from her. The two of them were kind and caring, but while Cassidy was snarky and cheering, Julian remained calm and diligent. And so, as time passed, the fallen Guardian ended loving Julian as Julian.

And after recognizing their feelings for each other, the two of them decided to meet at a secret area in Magenzian Falls, a lake crowned by a powerful waterfall. There, Julian (who had arrived first) waited. After a little waiting that for him felt eternal, Nerissa, (as the Mage) arrived. And she was different. Julian looked astonished as the woman in front of him hadn't grey skin anymore or a series of marks in her body. No, the woman standing right in front of him was a youthful Mage, albeit it was Nerissa in disguise. She had let her real green eyes to be seen in that form; and under the glamour, her body was as young as it was in the past.

"But… But…" said Julian, walking towards her and caressing her cheek with his palm "How?"

The Mage chuckled. "Weira let me reabsorb the Star of Threbe that I created in Allora's times." explained the Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage. "It's just temporal, of course. Just a favor that she made me; I will have to give it back again, but I thought that, for this I should look beautiful…" said the Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage. " _And the enormous amount of power that that Star gave me is also pretty welcomed_ " thought Nerissa. The Queen had really been helpful with her situation. She had even encouraged Nerissa to be with Julian. As long as you couldn't sprout wings from your back, or make your skin to become the one of an animal, she was the most loving Queen to her people that Meridian had ever seen.

Her thoughts disappeared from her mind as Julian put his other hand around her face. "You are always beautiful" said the man. And they kissed passionately. When the kiss was broken, Julian took a ring from his pocket, the very same ring that the he had returned to her in their first meeting. He kneeled and out the piece of jewelry around her finger. There, both of them pronounced their vows of love and, albeit in secret and with no one else around, they married.

Then clothes start to fell to the ground, and in that day, at the glorious Magenzian Falls, when the sun was setting and the sky became of a beautiful purplish red; the future leader of the Rebellion, Caleb; was conceived.

* * *

 ** _Nine months later_**

Nine months later after that; a little baby boy was born from the Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage. As she cradled the baby in her arms, Julian watched from a little afar, too mesmerized by the scene. Chuckling, Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage looked at the almost frozen man. "Come now, Julian. I suppose that he wants to say hello."

Julian approached slowly. At the bed's side, the man lowered his hand upon the newborn bay. The little child took notice of this and, by chance over nothing else, grabbed his father's pinky, trying to cover it with his small hand. "Haha…" laughed weakly Julian, so took by happiness that he was almost crying of pure joy. "He is strong. Hey, little one" whispered the man to the bay "sorry, father needs his finger back. Come now…"

The spectacle that Nerissa was watching was possibly the most heartwarming sight that she had ever beheld. Her husband trying to free his finger from their son's grasp trying to not disturb the child. It was both beautiful and hilarious at the same time. She couldn't avoid smiling widely. She looked at them, and in her twisted mind, her objective and creed were reinforced. Now she had another reason to fight for uniting the universe under her care. She looked at her son. "Which name do you think that suits him?"

Julian looked at his wife, still unable to free from the little baby. "You were the one to carry him for nine months. You choose the name. Also, I never was someone with a very good imagination."

The Mage-who-wasn't-the-Mage thought for a little. "Caleb." said the woman.

"Caleb?" asked Julian.

"Aha" affirmed the woman without using a real word. Cradling the boy a little more, she achieved to free Julian's pinky from his tiny hand, and brought him near her face. "Do you liked?" asked the woman, Eskimo kissing the little boy, who giggled at his mother's act and tact. "See? He likes it"

"Then Caleb it is. Caleb, our son." Julian stroke the baby's head, and the little lad returned the care with another giggle. The family embraced themselves. Nerissa looked at her son. _Her son._

" _My little Caleb_ " thought the fallen Guardian, kissing the boy's forehead. " _You will be this universe's prince_."

The family stayed together during Caleb's first year of life. Julian would still live in his house, but every day, he would come to his wife and son; and stay with them. No one knew, they interpreted it as Julian's usual missions in solitary. That gave him an excuse to stay out of sight from the people for days.

Nerissa had designed a secret room in her workshop in order for Caleb to sleep and be kept both save and occult. Usually Nerissa had him near when she was working in some potion or reading some scroll. When Julian wasn't home, she usually broke her glamour and showed the baby her real self, in order to print her real image in his memory. No son of her would be denied the right to see his mother's true face.

"Look Caleb, look." said the mother, holding a shinny object in front of her baby. It was a metallic prosthetic arm. "Look at what mom did. Do you like it?" Caleb reached for one of the arm's metal fingers. "Yes you do!" cheered the fallen Guardian.

Julian was more amused about the fact that Caleb seemed to grow at super speed, even if his wife had insisted about that babies tend to grow a lot in their firsts years of life. In no time, the child was crawling in all fours, fast as a horse through the floor of the workshop; emitting a 'da-da-da'; sound from his mouth each time that he approached Julian.

"I think that he is trying to say 'dad'." said Julian.

"Well, of course." answered Nerissa. "He just loves you."

These were Nerissa's happiest days. Over her days in Earth with her family, over her days at the service of Kandrakar as a Guardian with her friends; this were the brightest moments of her life; a powerful light with her son and husband as its center that filled her heart with peace and calmed the troubles of her soul.

And of course, strengthened the dark resolve that dwelled in the darkest corners of her soul.

* * *

Caleb was almost three years now. Her son and her husband were living separated from her, in Julian's house. She didn't regret it; in fact, it had been her idea. Using the excuse of the scandal that it could prove within Weira's Court, and the fact that the Mage was a reputed figure and their son could become an objective of assassins or kidnappers if his existence was known. Julian agreed in the moment Caleb's life security was mentioned. Nerissa smiled, she truly was lucky to have such a caring father as a husband. Of course, there was also her plan, and how it involved Caleb.

Nerissa was standing in front of a cauldron filled with a bubbly and boiling green potion. She was in her usual disguise as the Mage, the regular one, not the young one. She had to do without the Star of Threbe, having returned it from within herself to Weira once again. She let the glamour holding her real appearance to fall, and looked at her reflection in the potion's surface thoughtfully.

She had used her former Guardian powers as less as possible; so her appearance hadn't changed so much as it was expected to change with aging. Still, and albeit it was no Heart of Kandrakar, the energy derived from her absorbing the Star of Threbe had proven invigorating. Now, without a power source she could only use her Quintessence in a very limited manner. She couldn't permit that; she needed to be at full potential. She needed something to reinforce her powers effect, even if it meant to be drained of her life-force.

She had encountered her solution in the form of an old, forbidden spell that she had found in one of the late Mage's scrolls regarding Black Arts. It described the means to create an item, a magic orb that could reinforce the user's magic and act as an Auramere's replacement. Nerissa looked at the cauldron; she had gathered all the needed materials. The only thing left was something that could link the item to her. A part of her own body; the bigger the part, the stronger the orb.

So she held her left arm extended over the cauldron and with her right hand she held a sword. With decision, she delivered a powerful blow to her arm, in the elbow. Another advantage of marrying a soldier: you could learn how to hold a weapon from him. The blade fell and the meat and bone was cut, the arm falling into the cauldron. Nerissa fell on her knees, her right hand releasing the sword and getting fast to the bleeding wound, starting to cauterize it with low sparks of Quintessence as Nerissa cried and yelled in pain.

"JESUS CHRIST!" shouted the fallen Guardian. It had hurt, it had hurt a lot. But the worst part was done. She went to one of the workshop's tables and found her self-made prosthetic arm over it. When the wound was finally closed, she attached it to the place where her missing arm used to be. Still unable to move her new arm and gasping in pain, Nerissa get to the cauldron, where the potion had became of a dark purple color. "I call upon thee, Rhadgotien!" said Nerissa with conviction, excitement and also impatience. "The Shadow of a Dragon!" and at that words, the contains of the cauldron exploded upwards and evaporated, leaving only a floating staff in the air; a twisted brand that was holding a big, dark purple orb in its top with what looked like a claw. The staff descended and Nerissa caught it with her right hand. "Now, a little test…" said the woman, looking at her motionless metal arm. Breathing deeply, she said the words that she hadn't said in so many years. "Quintessence!"

Her own sparks of blue energy synchronized with the orb of her staff, passing through it and then through her body. She could see how the intense light of her element made her skeleton to be seen under her skin; she noted how said skin shagged and wrinkled a little, how the black of her hair became stained with a few grey lines. But it didn't matter to her. The sensation of being able to wield real power again was so overwhelming and welcomed that she didn't mind the fact that, in a way, she was slowly killing herself.

The Quintessence stream ended in her metal arm, and when it dispelled, she could move and use it as it had ever been her own. She looked satisfied at it. If that fool Oracle had let her remain in charge of the Heart, she could have created a whole series of these with her marvelous powers. Imagine how much people could benefit from it. But no… Eh, he would receive his punishment in time.

Clenching her metal fist and holding her new staff tightly, she smiled maliciously. "We are back in business" said the fallen Guardian to nobody. It was time to search for a rift between Weira and little Phobos.

* * *

 ** _The present_**

Of course, Julian didn't know about this; so his tale had ended in the moment that he had abandoned the company of his wife in order to live alone with Caleb in the Capital. That tale Caleb remembered pretty well. His first memories were about his father. His first words taught by him, his first steps delivered towards his extended arms.

"So that's how it was, eh?" said Caleb, almost in a whisper.

"Yes" answered Julian. With everything that he knew now about Nerissa and what had she done, those memories, once a reminder of one of his happiest moments in his life, now hurt. "I… still don't know if the woman I fell in love with was Nerissa, or the Mage's impersonation that she was doing; or if it was just a fake personality that she created to seduce me." Julian looked at Caleb. "But what I am sure about is that you are my son, and that I am proud of whom you have become, and that I want to protect you."

Caleb looked at his father. For the first time he saw what king of wound his mother's machinations had inflicted in his heart. Of how much it had to hurt for him. And while Caleb had been letting the emotions born from that reveal to cloud his judgment, his father had remained composed, never letting to see that the one that ended the most hurt from that reveal, was in fact him. Caleb was ashamed. Julian had suffered as much as him; lost as many people as him, and he wasn't acting as a suicidal man over it. Caleb supposed that those kinds of things were what made the difference between a child and an adult.

"Hey" said Caleb, knuckling his father in the shoulder gently. Julian looked at his son. "You are the best father that someone could have in the whole universe, dad. And thank you for the talk. I really needed it."

Julian smiled. "Thank you, son."

And with renewed bond and spirits, the two of them spurred their mounts and ride towards the Capital, to meet the others.

* * *

 ** _At the Capital_**

Raythor, Vathek, Tynar and Gorlois were waiting at the city's gates. But Julian and Caleb were surprised to find them in company of two other soldiers. And their faces weren't the better example of men that had come back to their peaceful home. As soon as they caught with the others, Caleb and Julian asked them if there was a problem.

"The water supply of the city was poisoned" answered Raythor. "Or more accurately contaminated with some sort of animal, if what they have told us it's true." said the veteran soldier signaling to the two new faces.

Dismounting, both father and son approached the pair. "And who exactly are you?" asked Caleb.

"Lieutenants Ban and Bors, sir!" said the pair of men in unison. "And as Captain Raythor had said" continued Ban "yes there were some animals called Afanc in the water supply of the city. They had killed around thirty people in the time that you all have been absent; sir." Caleb's look darkened after that sentence. Couldn't he ever catch a rest?

"You said ' _were'_ poisoned" said then Julian. "I have to understand that the situation has been fixed?"

"Yes!" said Bors. "The animals have been purged from the water stream. We were left with instructions of how to use herbs in order to purge the water."

"You should be thanking Drake and this woman here for it" said a familiar voice. Looking at the gates direction, the Elite Squad saw Captain Alborn approaching in company with a woman with a trained and toned body, long orange hair and a mild-tanned skin. "This is Isolde, of the militia." presented her Alborn. "She rode to Brocéliande and brought the herb in less than five hours. I have insisted her to take a rest but she said that she had something to give you."

Isolde approached Caleb and lent him the letter that Drake had given her. "Captain Drake left this in my hands in order to give it to you."

Caleb looked at her and signaled to Julian. "Sorry, miss. He is the commander now." said the young man with a smile of encouragement towards his father. "He gives the orders."

Isolde looked a little confused after this, but then handed the letter to Julian anyway. The bearded man took the letter and started to read from it, his expression changing to a more worried one as he progressed.

"I don't like that face" mussed Vathek.

Sighing, Julian lent the letter back to Isolde. "Tracker was behind of this; Drake explains in the letter that he could have been the only one to summon those Afanc things." Julian's expression of worry intensified. "So he decided to surrender himself to Tracker in order to make him abandon the city." Julian eyed all the presents. "Fortunately, he has left a plan to save himself. Vathek, go with Tynar and Gorlois and gather Gargoyle and Sandpit. Raythor, accompany my son and me to the dungeons; we need to pay a visit to Frost."

As they were departing to their destinies, Julian looked to Isolde. "Are you as good at fighting as you are at riding?"

"Yes, sir" answered the woman. She then signaled to both Ban and Bors. "And these two are no pushovers either."

"Good, you three, go with the others." Julian turned to Alborn. "I trust that you can manage here."

"If this is some type of diversion, the army and I will be defending everyone; don't worry." said Alborn and he shook Julian's hand.

The trio composed of Julian, Raythor and Caleb went to the dungeons. "I don't want to be the one to put down this spirit, but how do we know that Drake I still alive?" asked the veteran.

"Drake had said that Tracker would be using him as bait to attract another prey. A prey wouldn't come to dead bait, he knows that. He would maintain Drake alive as long as his prey doesn't show up."

"And that will be?" asked Caleb.

"Us."

* * *

 ** _The Dungeons_**

"So, let me get this straight" said Frost the Hunter, detained in one of the regular cells of the castle since the attack on the Infinity City. " _You_ , and I'm going to say it again; _you_ ; who I have tried to kill multiple times, need _me_ , whom you loathe; to help you to save one of your companions from the undead, who at one point was _my_ companion?"

"Basically" answered Caleb to the brute after Raythor and Julian explained to him that they needed a hunter to know what kind of habits could show Tracker in this situation.

The brute stared onto the trio for several minutes. Behind him, Crimson patted his back with his horn, encouraging him. It was clear that the animal wanted to get out. "I want a better cell, and better food for me and for Crimson."

"Done and done." answered Julian.

"Well then" Frost got to his feet, as he had been sat in the cell's floor until now. "Let's go hunting."

Caleb opened the cell's door. "You look enthusiastic. Do you even know where Tracker is?"

"In fact, I think that I know where to find him, boy" answered Frost, getting a glare from Julian that he unnoticed. "There is only one place near the Capital that can turn an ambush into the ambushed favor; isn't it Raythor?"

The old soldier smiled. "This world must be going insane. You just said something intelligent."

* * *

 ** _Afternoon._**

 ** _A ravine in Meridian's wild._**

Drake woke up slowly. His senses slowly returning to his body, he found himself tied up by a green glowing chain to a tree. He then remembered. The killings, the Afanc, Isolde, the sewers; and the Tracker.

Looking ahead, he saw the undead sitting backwards at him, resting over a fallen trunk. Sniffer was at his side, resting over the grass. Looking around, Drake saw how Tracker's bats were all scattered over the place, resting upside down from the branches of several trees, and some of them were resting upon Tracker's hat. He had one of them over his shoulder, and was patting him. The bat then noticed Drake's gaze, and whispered something into Tracker's dried ear.

"Astonishing, aren't they?" asked the Tracker, his raspy voice not showing surprise about the fact that Drake had remained calm over waking up. "The animals, I mean. Such incredible creatures…" Tracker rose from the trunk, and the bats over him flew to a better resting place. "I have always liked animals. The freedom they posses, no morals, no chains…" Tracker looked over the horizon. In the distance, the silhouette of the castle could still be seen. "We are very similar to them in that regard; and still, when presented with the opportunity to embrace our real selves, we choose reason, ethics, morality… and ought over Desire."

"Who are you?" asked Drake to the undead.

"I'm the Tracker." answered the raspy voice of the wrinkled green walking corpse.

"No. I'm asking who are you really, Tracker." asked Drake again. "Who are you behind the hunt? Behind that skin, who are you?"

"A nobody" answered the undead.

"Surely there is something that you can recall." said Drake again. Why was he speaking like that? What the hell was this sensation? What was so fascinating about him?

"I remember a boy" said then Tracker, and his voice sounded less raspy, and more… _human_ "and his bloodhound too. Running by these very own forests; hunting, always hunting. Dreaming that one day he could be as free as the bloodhound was when they hunted." Tracker made a pause and walked a little towards Drake, the flaming sword as a cane, as what was becoming usual of him. "And I remember a rope. And a bunch of vacuous moralists killing the boy, justifying it by the use of words as vacuous as themselves; instead of admitting their own desire and hunger for a prey." Tracker get even nearer. "And I remember a fire, and the Gods, appointing me as a Hierophant. And I remember the boy and the moralists no more. Instead, I remember a predator, a real hunter, and a swarm of preys to hunt. And since that moment, I have been both a Hierophant and the Tracker, and I have hunted, for that is my deepest desire." Tracker got even nearer and lowered himself. There, face to face with the undead was Drake, looking directly at the full red eyelids of the undead, his breath smelling to rotten flesh hitting his face. "And here am I, and here are you. A hunter and his bait to lure the prey into the trap. And you look at me and you think, ' _I should feel pity on him_ '. But I say to you, Drake, who killed me as others have kill me before; don't feel pity of us Hierophants, for in the deepest of despair that we were drown, we found real Desire, and since then we have done whatever we have wanted. That is our nature."

"Then I suppose that this is fair easier than I thought." said Drake, just to Tracker to notice movement to his left, raise again and catch an arrow that had been shot to his head with his left hand.

On one of the ravine's border, Tracker saw what he had been expecting. Forming a line from left to right were Caleb, Julian, Raythor, Vathek, Tynar, a Galhot of dark skin that he remembered as being named Gorlois for their few encounters during Phobos' time in the throne and a woman with orange hair that he didn't recognize, sporting a spear in her back and a bow in her hands. From there had come the arrow.

"Well, there goes the fast solution" said Gorlois, his axe in tow, as he saw Tracker cracking the arrow that had been fired at him. "We charge now, don't we?"

"Yes" said Caleb and Julian at the same time.

Grinning like a madman, and shouting like a monkey; Gorlois charged, followed nearby by Tynar and Caleb, and behind them, Julian and Vathek. Raythor was closing the formation, while Isolde shot more arrows into the monster's direction.

Narrowing his red eyes, the undead used his sword to deflect some of the shots; evading the remaining ones. He didn't know who that woman was, but she had one hell of an arm for that bow. He would enjoy hunting her. But! Priorities went first. Looking to his side he saw Gorlois jumping and swinging his axe towards his neck, but the undead simply avoided it and kicked Gorlois in the back as he fell, sending him to the ground. The dark skinned Galhot got to his feet in one jump, and still grinning even with his face and teeth full of dirt. " _Interesting child_ …" thought the undead.

The next strike wasn't evitable. Caleb and Tynar raised their swords and lowered them towards the undead, but Tracker raised his own blade and blocked the pair's, stopping them in their tracks. After a little struggle, Tracker pushed forwards and send both Caleb and Tynar flying a few meters away, landing the two of them in their feet as Vathek and Julian passed them and attacked Tracker too.

"Was he always _this_ strong?" asked Caleb to an approaching Raythor; the young man a little shocked that the undead had pushed them back so easily. He always had suspected that the reason behind Tracker using a flail was because he wasn't as strong as full living man.

"No" answered the old Galhot. "Either that sword is empowering him somehow, or he has been containing himself for all these years."

Meanwhile, Tracker welcomed his new pair of attackers. Vathek threw his fail towards the undead's sword, the chain of the blue Galhot's weapon curling around the walking corpse's wrist and sword's hilt. Seeing an opening, Julian delivered a slash in a crescent moon way with his sword, aiming to Tracker's stomach, but the undead jumped to avoid the attack. While jumping, he lowered his right hand, (the one holding his sword) and put the chain that was holding his wrist in Julian's sword's way; managing to made the blade to destroy the chain and free him.

Tracker landed again and rotated over his feet with his sword extended. Vathek and Julian only dodged the blow for millimeters, jumping backward. Tracker stayed calm, and when Gorlois attacked again, he just diverted the attack with his sword.

And so, the Elite landed in one side of the battlefield, and Tracker in the other. The undead had move mere meters from his original position, and none of them had been able to land a blow on him. The undead laughed, the same kinfd of dry, raspy laugh as his voice was. "That is all?" asked the undead. "The powerful men at the service of the Escanor… perhaps I was exaggerating when I told to the spawn of the forgotten realms when I said that Meridian was a realm of warriors."

"No, you weren't." said then a voice.

Fast as an arrow, Isolde appeared and let behind her the rest of the meridianites, running towards the undead spear in hand. Jumping a little, she directed the spearhead to the walking corpse. Tracker blocked it with the blade of his green-flaming sword, but surprisingly, he couldn't push back this time. Taking advantage of the undead's surprise, Isolde kicked him in the stomach with her knee, and when the undead was bending over himself, she rotated as he had done, and hit him in his dried and wrinkled face with her elbow; making him to stagger back a few meters, losing both balance and his hat.

His white locks of hair flowing into the air, Tracker looked at his enemies. Isolde at the front, the others were looking at him as the difference in strength hadn't bothered them in the slightest. The woman charged again, and Tracker and she engaged into a rapid exchange of blows. Even if Tracker was a Hierophant, he had to admit, he was having problems catching up with this prey's physical prowess.

"Why isn't this woman a member of the Squad already?" asked an astonished Vathek as he and the others watched how Isolde was not only fighting in equal with a Tracker much pgysically stronger than the one they were accustomed to, but also getting the upper hand.

"What's wrong?!" yelled Isolde. "No one else is going to fight?!"

As in cue, Julian and Caleb ran towards the fight, followed by Raythor, Tynar and Vathek. Gorlois waited behind, and looking around, he pulled a dagger out of his pocket and ditched the axe aside. " _Time to fight on my style_ " thought the dark skinned Galhot as he got out of Tracker's and the other's range of vision.

The undead was getting pretty much overpowered by now. The woman was proven a formidable foe, but the others were getting in the fight as there was an opening. Every time that Isolde reduced her tempo in order to rest, Tracker would come at her, sword raised, but someone else would stop him with his weapon and engage him in battle. Like that, each one of them took turns in fighting the undead, and they remained fresh. " _Maybe I will have to resort to…_ " thought the undead.

Meanwhile, Drake continued tied to the tree. He was watching the battle unfold and, albeit happy for seeing his friends winning; a part of his mind was telling him that tracker wasn't giving all of what he was capable off. He then felt movement over his head and, looking up; he saw the figures of Ban and Bors, the two of them hanging from the tree's branches. "Ban! Bors!" shouted Drake, relived to see them.

The pair of brothers jumped and landed near Drake. Then they retired his chains. Ban handed him a sword. "We thought that you could need a little help, sir:"

Drake rose and took the weapon. "Then come on, show me why you two earned your positions!"

Ban drew his own spear, and Bors put in each one of his arms one massive shield. Making them collide and sprout a sonorous *CLANC*; the two of them rushed to battle ahead of Drake, shouting like children that rush to play. Drake followed near; his rescue plan going as good as possible. He really did a good thing paying attention to the Keeper's gimmicks and strategies.

Tracker was losing, that was clear for him. His preys had resulted particularly stubborn. And he knew that that kind of thought was an euphemism, he really was becoming the prey and they the hunters.

And from the corner of his eye, he saw an again freed Drake coming towards him, preceded by two new unknown factors. One of them, the one that was holding two shields speed up lowering his torso, and the other one (another spear user) jumped in his back and the two of them pointed their weapons towards Tracker. The members of the Elite Squad retired from their way.

"BAN'S AND BORS' SPECIAL COMBINATION IMPACT!" shouted the pair in unison.

"What?" asked Tracker, too shocked by the sheer stupidity of the name of the movement to defend himself when Bors' shield impacted in him and Ban's spear pierced across his shoulder; sending him several meters away.

Tracker got to his feet and raised his sword in a defensive position for the first time in the whole fight. Then he noted how something pierced his calves; making him fell to his knees. Behind him, hands stained with whatever excuse of blood the undead had still in his body (if those fluids were really blood); was Gorlois.

What are you-?" asked Tracker, but Gorlois hit him in the face and returned to his companion's side.

"Playing dirty" answered Gorlois cheerfully.

Tracker looked in front of him. He had expected six preys at much, but now he had to deal with nine. Will he really have to use 'that'? No, there must be other option. When a Hierophant entered that stated, there wasn't a 'coming back' option. He had had enough of playing alone.

Whistling, he called for Sniffer, who came barking to his aid. But then another figure jumped from one of the ravine's borders, and Tracker watched thunderstruck as how a rhinoceros like creature rammed his dog across the ravine. In front of him, side by side with the forces come from the castle, was Frost the Hunter, mounting Crimson.

"You?!" shouted Tracker, his raspy voice and the feeling of surprise didn't bond well.

"Yes" answered Frost. "But to be fair, I am as surprised as you to see myself here."

"It's not so easy, is it?" asked Drake to the undead. "Yes, you are a good hunter, the best hunter; and your strategy was planned with the mind of a hunter that wants to catch a prey" Drake pointed at him with his sword. "But we are not preys! We are soldiers, meridianites at the Queen's service! Methods that work with animals won't work with us! And now the hunted are you!"

The undead wasn't listening, though. Tracker was still looking at where Sniffer had ended. The hound was still alive, but he was fatally wounded. "No one" said Tracker, the anger in his voice clear as it was heightening as never before "touches my hound! _Dasa_!"

No one knew what a Dasa was. But as the ground began to move, tremble and crack, Raythor and Vathek made a good idea of what it was. The ground exploded before the Elite Squad, and from the hole that now lied between them and Tracker, came the same creature that had stormed the Infinity City. Crimson shook a little, but he didn't let the fear to posses him.

"Ehehehehe…" laughed the monster made of black worms as it looked back at the Tracker, it's vertical mouth opening and closing frenetically and each one of the eyes in its legs moving in one direction. Vathek took notice of how the eye that Aldarn had injured hadn't recovered. "You let them play with you, Hierophant. This pieces of meat"

Tracker didn't say anything; he was still looking at his dog. Then he looked at his sword. He put the tip of the weapon against his chest. " _If there is no other option…_ " thought the Tracker as the sword started to pierce his skin. " _Then let the flames of my Desire to consume me._ " And with that thought, the sword pierced the undead's heart.

Sans for the creature, every one of the presents were surprised at what happened… and scared to what followed.

The sword exploded into a tower of green flames that enveloped Tracker. In the middle of them, Caleb could see how the figure of Tracker was being burnt, his clothes and the little amount of flesh that he still had fading away, transformed in ashes, leaving only a black skeleton among the flames. But the skeleton wasn't consumed. Instead, it grew until it became almost two and a half meters tall. Then it sprouted a tail of bone, and for the skeletons shoulder blades two spikes grew towards the skies, one bigger than the other one, making the form of a crescent moon. The tower of green flames dwarfed, but remained around the skeleton. The same faces that could have been seen into Tracker's blade, still shouting and lamenting in agony could still be seen in the mantle of flames that surrounded the skeleton. It spoke, and his voice was Tracker's.

"If a hunter is not enough" said the abomination, looking at them without eyes. "Then you shall face a Hierophant."

And with that last word, Tracker smashed his fist against the ground, sending a powerful torrent of green flames towards Caleb and the others, who were forced to split in two to avoid be burned. One group was composed of Vathek, Tynar, Frost, Gorlois and Raythor. The other one left Caleb with Julian, Isolde, Drake, Ban and Bors. All the bats that were scattered over the ravine trees awoke and flew towards the sky, flying in circles like a giant mass of dark.

"Keep following the plan with that atrocity, Raythor!" shouted Caleb to the veteran soldier, as all of them looked at the incoming flying predators. "We will take care of… whatever Tracker has transformed in."

The veteran made a signal of agreement to the young man, and then he took command over the others. " _Funny_ " thought Raythor " _except for Gorlois, I have commanded each one of the others in the past…_ "

The other six soldiers in the ravine directed their attention to Tracker, who engulfed in flames, was approximating the still breathing Sniffer. But instead of taking pity over his hound's state, or help him directly, Tracker kneeled at his side. He took Sniffer in his flaming arms and, making it near his mouth; he bit it with his flaming teeth. Sniffer shrieked in pain before the sight of Caleb, Drake, Julian and the others; and the flames consumed the animal until the hound's body became ashes, and these were swallowed by Tracker. The flaming giant skeleton rose from his kneeling and looked at them.

"You…" Tracker heard Julian speaking now. "You ate your own hound… Have you no shame?! No humanity left?!"

Tracker didn't answer, only looking at them. His eyeless stare was focused mainly over Julian and Drake. Lowering his flaming skeletal body, Tracker's flaming hands touched the ground, and his skeletal tail flipped against it. And then, he vomited something that looked like black goo. The black goo took the form of a hound's skeleton, and then it engulfed itself in the same green flames that surrounded Tracker. A feral growl escaped his mouth. Tracker growled too; more beast than man now. More predator than hunter.

"Preys…" said the undead, his voice raspier than ever.

" _Well_ " thought Drake. " _At least he didn't kill his own pet._ "

* * *

 ** _Sonder Hill_**

 ** _At the same time_**

As per usual with each one of her inaugurations and dressed into her usual blue garb again; Elyon was delivering a powerful speech to the masses of Sonder Hill, assembled all of them around the platform that had been built in front of her latest addition to Meridian. Sonder Hill's University. A temple of knowledge, she had called it. A place made to satisfy the thirst for discoveries that the studious possessed. Of course she had added her usual rant about making the city great, but that felt secondary; was secondary. The desire of knowledge was the trigger and also the objective.

Then Elyon felt something. From the back of her mind an alarm shouted so strongly that she had to stop her speech, and even if Irvine was the only one to notice it, she lost a little balance.

Finishing her speech as fast as she could but without decreasing its quality, Elyon left the stage and went inside the building followed by Irvine, leaving behind the clapping and cheering crowd of Sonder Hill.

"Your Highness" said Irvine. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, it's just..." Elyon knew what had been the reason of her body reacting like that. "I think that maybe I have been overworking myself... and now I'm just exhausted. Could you go and prepare me a bowl of warm chocolate? I think that I'm hungry." asked the Queen in her sweetest voice.

Irvine's cheeks reddened and her eyes bright with delight. "Of course, Your Highness. Anything you ask!"

"Thank you. I will be waiting in my room."

As Irvine rushed through the corridors and searched for a place to made warm chocolate, Elyon entered a room in the University, very similar to the one she had slept in at Carhaiz; except this one had no windows. There, in the darkened room only slightly illuminated by a pair of candles, Elyon sat in her bed with the legs crossed into a meditational position. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She opened them suddenly and violently; and now they were pitch-black. She looked into the direction of her world that was making her senses to go crazy, and then saw why she had reacted that way. Tracker had engaged the Elite Squad (and some others); which she didn't mind. A Hierophant could do whatever he or she wanted... but she was the one in charge of this operation, she still had use for some of those idiots, and Tracker had just shifted to his Abyssal estate. This meant that none of them could survive in the end.

Sighing, she made her eyes shift to their usual form again. Returning from the use of her sight was getting more and more difficult each time that she used it. She felt much better in that state, more natural, more... _her_.

"Come now, big brother."

From the shadows behind her, a form took shape. From the dark her brother stepped into the dim light provided by the candles, the flames reflecting in his golden metallic gauntlets and now golden eyes.

"I can feel it" said Phobos, excitement in his voice. "Tracker has gone Abyssal over the Crossnic witch's child."

"If he dies now" stated Elyon "she won't notice; won't suffer from the loss."

"I know. I will make Tracker stop." Phobos got behind Elyon. "But... alive doesn't mean unharmed, does it?"

Elyon smirked. "No, no it doesn't. I let it to your own creativity, big brother."

Phobos lowered his head and, pulling one of Elyon's braids aside, he delivered a lovely kiss over her cheek. "Thank you, dear sister." And as Elyon snapped her fingers, Phobos was teleported away.

The Queen stretched herself and waited for her bowl of warm chocolate. As it turned out, she really was hungry. Maybe she could ask for a few cookies too?

* * *

 ** _Back in the ravine_**

"How are you able to stand in this thing?!" shouted Gorlois while mounting in Crimson with Frost riding.

"Quiet, boy!" yelled at him the brute. "It's hard enough for Crimson to dodge this thing already, and your wailing doesn't do it any better!"

Mounting the rhinoceros, frost and Gorlois were serving as a distraction for the worm-made creature; while Raythor, Vathek and Tynar were trying to strike the eyes of its legs, with severe difficulty, to say the least. Every time that they tried to land an attack, the creature evaded them. All things considered, it was way easier to fight it there, in an opened space than in a dungeon. Because for every time that they missed its eyes, the creature, _Dasa_ had called it Tracker; missed them.

"Why you little-!" said the creature. Its vertical mouth opening as possible as it could. "Stop this futile struggle! And get! Into! MY MOUTH!"

The creature smashed its whole body against the ground, shaking it by producing a controlled earthquake that unbalanced Crimson and made it fall. Looking at the lying bodies of Frost and Gorlois, the creature produced a sound of delight. "Which one? Which one goes first? You!" said the _Dasa_ as it picked Frost from the ground and brought him to its mouth.

Frost closed his eyes, but then an axe flew and struck the eye that lay in the leg that had caught Frost. The creature screamed in pain and let Frost fall in his butt. Looking around, Frost saw how Vathek had been the one to throw the axe.

"Raythor was right." said Frost as he and Gorlois went to Vathek's side. "This world must be going crazy if you have just saved me."

Vathek grumbled over the prospect of just have saved one of his former enemies; but he didn't say anything, as the creature had recovered and was now charging towards them. "Raythor!" shouted the blue Galhot. "How much more?!"

"Distract it a little longer!" shouted the man as he dispatched some bats with a blow from his sword. "We need to let them enough room to act!"

Foaming, the creature reached them, and losing its regular form like it had done in the Infinity City, capture the five of them in their tendrils.

"Agh!" shouted Gorlois. "Do something, you old man!"

Raythor looked at the border of the ravine and saw movement, a tiny strand of sand circling around. "Just a little closer…" thought the old soldier.

"Raythor…" said Tynar as the creature was bringing him slowly to its mouth. The creature was opening its jaws when…

"Now, Sandpit!" exclaimed the veteran.

From the border of the ravine, Sandpit, a creature made of pure sand, jumped in the form of a tornado towards the creature. Once reached it, Sandpit started to pull itself inside the creature, entering it using its mouth.

"You wanted to eat?" asked Raythor, as the grip over him and his companions softened and all of them landed in earth. "Then let's see how much you can fill in that mouth of yours!" The creature started to expand, incapable of filling in its inside the totality of Sandpit.

And then, reaching a point in what it couldn't expand more, it exploded in a scream of agony. Black worms filled the air as they fell towards the ground, and the only things remaining from the beast were its teeth and its eyes. As they stabbed each one of them, Vathek approached the remaining and last one. Raythor lend him his sword and the blue Galhot raised it. "For my men" said Vathek on a somber tone as he lowered the sword and killed the _Dasa_ for good. Hopefully he could sleep better now.

As Sandpit reformed itself, Raythor directed himself to the creature of sand. "Thank you for coming."

"A little earlier couldn't have been worse…" grumbled both Frost and Gorlois.

Ignoring them, Raythor continued. "Did you bring Gargoyle too?" Sandpit nodded silently. "Good." Raythor looked across the whole that the creature had made. At the other side, he could see the green flames that enveloped Tracker. "They need help."

Caleb dodged a torrent of green flames to one side, but as he did, he got caught in the way of the now flaming Sniffer, who charged directly towards him, biting his jacket, getting rid of it, the young man saw how the clothe disintegrated in the hound's mouth. The animal charged again and Caleb waited for it sword in hand, but suddenly Bors jumped in front of him and hit Sniffer with one of his shields, sending the hound away. Bors could feel how, just by mere contact, the shield's temperature skyrocketed. He was forced to threw it away in order to avoid been burned.

As Sniffer charged again, Drake positioned himself at Caleb's side. "Good thing that Tracker isn't the brightest mind around, or we would be dead by now."

"How?" asked Caleb, as Bors dodged Sniffer and they stopped the hound with their blades. "How did he became… that?"

"I don't know" said Drake. "But he called himself Hierophant, and he mentioned some Gods… I think that he really is at the service of someone."

"Great, just what we needed" Caleb's gaze directed to the Tracker, who was in battle against his father, Ban and Isolde. "Gods targeting our world."

Isolde was trying the best she could, but it wasn't enough. Tracker's new form was proving too strong. And he wasn't doing anything. He was just standing there, looking at Julian, ignoring her and Ban. Isolde fumed. Each and every enemy she had faced had skin! Organs! But a flaming skeleton whose flames could burn you in the same moment that you entered in contact with it? She didn't know how handle that!

"I remember you" said then Tracker, pointing a blazing phalanx towards Julian. "Phobos wanted you all dead. That's the reason he send me. And you escaped me. How? No one has escaped me in centuries."

"Who knows?" asked Julian, trying to get near the flaming monster, but the heat was too intense. "Maybe you aren't such a good hunter as you thought!" taunted Julian.

"I told Drake, taunts won't work in me, especially now that I have shifted to this form."

"Then what about a heavy-hitter?" asked Julian.

"What are you talking about?" asked Tracker, but then he heard heavy footsteps in the distance. Looking to the ravine's border, he saw none other than Gargoyle, who jumped straight into the ravine and hit tracker with his metal club. The flaming and massive skeleton contained the impact with his hands, but Gargoyle wasn't a pushover either, and made the flaming undead to go back a few meters.

"Come on" Julian lend a hand to Ban, who was in the floor. "Let's help my son and the others; they need help with the hound."

"Are you sure that he would be okay alone?" asked Isolde, referring to Gargoyle.

"Yes, Gargoyle is the strongest card that we have up our sleeve. If he can't" Julian saw how gargoyle smashed his club into Tracker, but the undead didn't waver. "Then we will have to escape to the Capital as fast as we can."

Gargoyle hadn't known someone in his whole life that could match his physical strength. And he had lived for almost one thousand years. Now, the skeleton enveloped in green flames that he had been told that was Tracker, his former companion among the Knights of Vengeance; was matching his metal club's strikes with ease. And he burned. Even Gargoyle, who was made of stone, could feel the moisture of his body evaporating from it as he continued to struggle with Tracker.

"Gargoyle, I have always wanted to hunt the ones of your kind." said Tracker, his raspy voice hadn't changed, Gargoyle noticed. "But now" Tracker looked over the whole ravine. He saw his primary preys escaping. "You are interrupting my hunt."

With that cold statement, Tracker pushed Gargoyle away and then gathered power. With one of the first and last screams that nobody will ever heard from the undead, he unleashed the complete magnitude of his powers. Everyone in the ravine looked at how the flames around Tracker's skeletal body intensified, and then exploded, engulfing the entire ravine. Sandpit was the one to act fast, moving like a tornado and gathering everyone and shielding them with his sand body. When the flames hit, he didn't feel his body turning into crystal, but he could feel pain. He never felt pain before. He was made of sand! There was something wrong with those flames.

When the fire dispersed, Sandpit fell apart, too tired to maintain his humanoid form. Still alive though; as was everyone else albeit they all had several burns over their bodies. Before losing whatever kind of consciousness he had, Sandpit looked at Gargoyle. The large stone creature was lying in the ground, breathing with difficulty, but breathing. Good, they were all alive.

The others, albeit burned, retained their consciousness. They all looked how the flaming Sniffer approached the flaming Tracker, and how that one kneeled and patted the hound in the head, sparkles blazing each time they made contact.

The Tracker rose, triumphant. Victory was his.

Caleb felt his skin burned, his body tired. He saw how Tracker was walking towards him. The young man rose up too, even if it hurt, even if his body couldn't stand the heat of the incoming monster, he was going to stand, sword at his side. Looking by the corner of his eye, he saw his father rising too, and Raythor and that woman that Drake had recruited. In the end, by sheer force of will, every human and Galhot was, albeit badly and leaning in their weapons, standing.

"Impressive" said Tracker in his raspy voice. "And also praiseworthy. You are the first preys since my rebirth as a Hierophant that made me use my Abyssal state. Be proud." sentenced Tracker as he charged another attack of his flames. Caleb didn't close his eyes, and waited for the attack.

"Enough!" a shout cut the silence of the ravine, and Tracker stopped his attack.

A new figure had entered the ravine. Walking towards the Tracker, Caleb couldn't tell who exactly he was.

"Today is full of mishaps..." complained Tracker. "What do you want?" asked the undead, clearly not amused by this new player's appearance. Caleb took notice of this, however. They seemed to know each other. The undead had an ally.

Approaching Tracker, and seemingly not disturbed by the heat that the flaming undead was expelling, the green flames reflecting in his golden gauntlets; the stranger eyed the monster and spoke.

"What _I_ am doing here?" Caleb couldn't tell why, but the voice of the stranger sounded... familiar. "What are _you_ doing here? And in your Abyssal state no less."

"These preys had resulted particularly hard to hunt. That's the reason behind my use of my full power." The undead didn't sound angry, just irritated, or even upset; like a man having fun playing a game in some tavern that is reminded by his boss that tomorrow he had work to do.

"And you have shared that power with your hound _because_?" asked again the stranger. He didn't sound angry either, just… annoyed by the fact that he had to move himself.

"Because no one dares to harm Sniffer in my presence." answered Tracker.

Caleb heard a sigh coming from the stranger. "We can't afford to risk a Hierophant by this point, and you know it. Also" the stranger signaled directly to Caleb. "He is forbidden."

"Why?" asked Tracker, the rasp in his voice not hiding curiosity.

Caleb could feel something between the two interlocutors now. It was like a string of energy shifting between them. He knew what they were doing; he had been enough time with Cornelia and the others to recognize a telepathic conversation when he saw one.

Tracker opened his mouth, and gave his back to Caleb, walking a few meters away. "If I don't get to hunt, at least let me see this." The undead said, trying to get a compensation.

"Of course" the stranger approximated Caleb. "Ah, this brings back memories, doesn't it… _Rebel Leader_?"

Now the tone had changed, and it wasn't calm, or inquiring. It was smug and contemptuous. And familiar, too familiar to not be recognized. Caleb looked in front of him, his vision blurry and his body bowed and leaning in his sword, but he could see who was talking. The attire was totally different, but conserving its old black and red colors. The hair way shorter, at least by his standards, and the goatee longer than before. The eyes now of potent gold, the most notably difference was his physique, now muscular and elegant in comparison with the one that he had before. But for Caleb, that face, that face that had hunted him for thirteen years, was unmistakable.

"Phobos?!" asked the young man, not hiding his shock.

"More or less." answered the former Prince. "But please, don't think that I'm not pleased with the results" Phobos raised one of his golden metal claws and clenched his fist strongly. "This is better than anything I could imagine."

"How?" he heard Vathek ask, the blue Galhot various meters away from Caleb, like everyone else. "You were imprisoned in the Infinite City! You were depowered!"

Drake looked at Phobos, suspicion in his eyes. "You are a Hierophant" declared the man, gaining the other's attention. "The reason behind Tracker's attack was to isolate you, and make you into one. Am I wrong?"

Phobos looked back at Tracker, who simply shrugged, making the spikes of his scapulas to move weirdly. "The smartest of the preys" said the undead.

With a funny expression, Phobos turned back to the almost defeated Elite Squad, a pleased look on his face. "Well, more or less, Drake. You could say that I am a bonus." He overlooked the others. "And to be fair, Vathek, you let the door open. But, let's not talk about boring details; look at what we have assembled here! The only ones missing are Cedric and Miranda. Such beautiful memories. Don't you feel nostalgic?"

Caleb was still shocked from seeing the deposed tyrant there, and his surprise only increased with Phobos attitude. It was just like that first time, in the throne room, chained and surrounded by thorns, when Caleb had seen the tyrant face to face for the first time. The sensation of dread, the certainty that, whatever he did, it would end in defeat. And the knowledge that he was going to struggle until the end even knowing that.

Caleb gathered the last strength that he had in his body, and delivered a blow towards Phobos. The former Prince just chuckled, founding the act of the young commander amusing. Phobos' shadow grew until it became a puddle of darkness with a radius of two meters under his feet. From the puddle, shadow shaped like thorns rise up fast as a lightning and they surrounded and restrained Caleb. More thorns appeared from where the others had come, and they restrained the others too, smashing them against the ground.

"So much for the _mighty and brave_ Rebellion that was able to depose _Me_." mocked Phobos.

"You arrogant, dishonorable…" muttered Raythor, trying to get free of the vines, but every time he achieved to break one of them, it reattached itself. After all, shadows are a deceiving matter, a very fitting weapon for someone like Phobos.

"Save your words Raythor" said the former Prince. "And if I were you and I wanted to talk about honor, I would first check with whom I get along."

Phobos looked over all of them again. "The _mighty and brave_ Rebellion… Wait, I almost forgot." The former Prince smiled smugly. Caleb remembered that kind of smile, the same one that Phobos had almost permanently in his face when he had stolen his sister's powers for the first time. "It wasn't you who depose me. It were the Guardians, and also was my sister. And of course…" Phobos' look over Caleb intensified and for a moment, the young commander saw the smugness disappear, leaving only hate. " _Crossnic_ " Phobos spoke his mother's name with a voice full of despise.

"Tell me something, Caleb, son of Nerissa." said Phobos, not hiding his anger. Caleb glared at him too. If there was someone that he didn't want to remind him of his heritage, was Phobos. "Have you ever been forced to watch someone that you love losing his life in front of you; without you being able to stop it? Without you being able to do anything about it but watch? Have you?"

Caleb didn't answer. He didn't know what Phobos was speaking about. "I shall take your silence as 'no'?" The former Prince looked at Julian, restrained too, and he smiled maliciously. "Well, look at the opportunity we had now, _Crossnic boy_."

Phobos started to walk towards Julian, and Caleb and everyone else could see the intentions in the deposed tyrant's eyes.

" _No! I won't let you!_ " thought Caleb, as he tried to let himself free from the vines, but as he struggled, the shadow-plans became tighter and tighter, their thorns nailing in his skin and flesh. " _Damn it!_ "

"Now, now; don't struggle, pay attention." stated Phobos. He got behind Julian as the shadow thorns raised him from the ground and made him kneel in front of Phobos; his face looking at his son's.

Julian knew what was coming. He had known of this possibility since the first moment that he took a sword in opposition to Phobos. So he breathed deeply as he felt the armored hands of the Prince to be put against his neck.

"Ah, but where are my manners? There, Caleb, help yourself." The thorns around Caleb's body disappeared, melted again into the big puddle of shadow. "Come! Come and save your father, son of Nerissa!"

Caleb knew that it was a trick. But he ran. He ran towards his father. Julian started to feel pressure over his neck; the Prince oppressing it. And like it had happened with his son when they had faced the monstrosity that called itself Rob; not his full life, but the most important points in it danced in front of Julian's eyes. His son kissing the woman that he loved; they reuniting in the underwater mines…

The _woman_. The woman that he had loved and deep down still loved, even if it pained him to admit it, even if that wasn't her real face. And she was holding their baby.

The baby, who was now a grown up man, running towards him. He knew that he won't do it in time. So many things to say, so many things to talk about. So many things that he will miss. So many things that he would never know.

"Father, I'm coming for you!" yells the boy.

Caleb was almost there, and Julian didn't need to look back to see the cruel smile in Phobos lips. He looked at his son, so many things he could say as a farewell. As the grip tightens with murderous intent, and Caleb it's now at the adequate distance; the bearded soldier, the father and rebel, all of those at the same time; says his last words.

"I love you son"

 ** _*CRACK*_**

The noise sounds stronger that it should have.

And as the shadow thorns are dispelled, and Phobos walks towards Tracker, a lifeless body falls to the ground. And a son reaches his father. As the Hierophants and the hound disappear into a shadow that envelops both of them, the only thing left behind the light of two cruel, golden eyes; the thorns restraining the others disappear too. And they walk towards the scene, silently, respectfully. Raythor takes off his helmet; Tynar is heard casting a prayer. The two brothers bow in the utmost of respect, and Drake kneels at his friend's side. Even Frost and cruel Gorlois are too shocked to mock or not care. Isolde is speechless, and she is fighting her tears.

Caleb doesn't. And in that moment, tears running down his cheeks, Caleb is again the shocked and afraid boy in the raining alley the night of Phobos' cup; after commiting his first kill. But this time, his father isn't here to console and make him stand again. His father isn't here. His father is no more.

He would never be back. And as the sun sets and the day comes to an end; so does the life of Julian, father of Caleb.

* * *

Far away from the ravine, in the Capital, there is a house. Inside the house, there is a bedroom, and in said bedroom, there is a bed. Under the bed lies a box, and inide that box, there is a jewel of an aquamarine tone.

And now a crack forms in it.

* * *

 _Goodnight demon slayer, goodnight. Now it's time to close your tired eyes. There are devils to slay and dragons to ride. If they see you coming, hell they better hide. Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight. Goodnight my little slayer goodnight._ Good night Demonslayer; by Voltaire.

* * *

 **A/N: That ravine, by the way, it's the same that the Knights of Vengeance used in B is for Betrayal.**

 **Here you go. I said October, and October it is. A lot happened in this chapter, eh? I'm not going to say much, let what you all just read speak for itself; but I will say that the first song is dedicated to Tracker; and the last one to BOTH Caleb and Julian. Now let me do several announces. First, coming next are the next two chapters of the Riddle Arc, "The Shadow casted by the Light" and "The other side of the Story"; and after them, the third Meridian Interlude, that will be called "The Women inside the Jewel", which will focus on both Nerissa and Elyon.**

 **Second, I don't know when I will start updating again, because I have to focus in other things… so I suppose that I will let this for December. Or sooner if I find time to write something that aren't essays for University.**

 **And third, of course, hope that you enjoyed this looooong chapter. Leave a review if you feel like it, okay? See you all in December (or sooner if I am lucky!).**

 **Until them, have pleasant days and nights, you all.**


	11. Chapter 11: Riddle Arc Part V

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH. It's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **A/N: I know, I know; I said that nothing until December… but as it turns out; I will have more time for writing than anticipated, so you all should be getting, at least, a chapter per month. Having said that…**

 **Hello, all of you, my dear readers! And welcome to the fifth part of the Riddle Arc, "The Shadow casted by the Light"; which will focus in the aftermath of the tremendous beating that the girls received in chapter 9, and how everyone around them are going to react. Sincerely, I have been looking to this chapter. As I said before, one of the objectives of this fic is darken the WITCH universe. Does this mean that this is going to be one of those hyper depressive stories? No, I don't want to do that. The reason I'm doing things in this arc the way I'm doing it is to show that this is not a "Good vs. Evil" fight anymore. But that doesn't mean that there is no place for funny, happy or awesome moments. The Riddle Arc, in contrast with the Meridian Interludes (in which the antagonist are clearly more devious and monstrous than the protagonists even if I had darkened them too); was planned in order to made the girls fight against someone who had every reason to fight them. Of course, this doesn't mean that the girls are going to break. Each one of them is there to support the others, and is because of that relationship of union and friendship that they are going to continue. It's just… making them doubt, because that's the purpose of a riddle. So, after all this explanation, onto the chapter. We are going to open with a little scene in Kandrakar and then we are going to go back to Earth and spend a lot of time with the girls, especially Will and Taranee.**

 **As always, enjoy your read and leave a review.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter eleven

Riddle Arc. Part Five

The Shadow casted by the Light

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of Infinity_**

Things weren't going well for Oracle Himerish. His health wasn't in the best of conditions and what had just happened in the meeting of the Council of Light just worsened it. Halinor's left had been a great loss but it had been nothing compared with Endarno's. His departure had left a power vacuum in the Fortress of Light; and it had called for a substitute immediately. After all, the Tower of Mists couldn't be without a Warden. Who knew what the prisoners could have done in the time from Endarno's departure until now. The best part was that the new Warden had been chosen quite fast, considering how slow the Council could be in its deliberations. The worst part had been the fact that the chosen one had been A'heres. The man of blue skin had accepted his new position and task both polite and humbly; but Himerish knew that the man had much more darker and devious motives to be grateful. After all, his new position was one of power, only second to the Oracle and equal to Luba and Tibor.

Walking alone towards his chambers; Himerish took a deviation from his usual way. No reason in particular, he just wanted to pass by the Hall of Memories. Turning left, then right, then left other two times Himerish ended in a large hall that held, represented in murals that decorated the two walls that ran across the whole hall. In those murals were depicted all the Guardian generations. Starting with the current one, depicted at his right and their predecessors, at his left. His heart felt a cringe of grief upon seeing the images of the whole CHYKN there. All of them radiant and all of them united; before tragedy had stroke them. Sometimes Himerish thought if he hadn't been partially responsible for Nerissa's fall. Maybe if he had tried a different approach to the problem...

Walking, Himerish looked at his sides. After some time filled with the sight of generations composed entirely of human women, Himerish started to gaze into generations of Guardians composed by more diverse members. Human, Galhot, women from Basilade, tree-folk of Zamballa, and even Banshee of Arkhanta were depicted in the walls. Of course, all those generations were long time forgotten, and they weren't brought out in conversation.

The Purges of Earth. Probably the darkest moment in Kandrakar's history. And A'heres seemed too much interested in it. Himerish had done his homework; it seemed like A'heres spent hours in the Grand Library, reading about the purges; more to indulge himself than to learn. His hate for humans was clear, and the worst part was that he was gaining support within the Council itself. The fact that he was holding Endarno's position was proof of that. Or maybe it was that Endarno's and Halinor's departure had a harder impact than expected and the sages just wanted someone as Warden as soon as possible. Or maybe were both reasons.

The Oracle continued his walk. Yes, Endarno's and Halinor's loss was bad, but the loss of the current generation could have been worse, independently of what the eldest members of the Council, much of them having been inherited from former Oracles' times; have in mind. Their view of earthlings was even worse than A'heres. At least Himerish could see emotion in his red eyes, even if it wasn't a good emotion. In those sages' he just saw indifference.

Himerish reached the end of the Hall. In a large mural that difference from the others due to its sheer grandeur in comparison; was the First Generation of Guardians. All five of them in their elemental forms and lined up. Over them was pictured a beautiful woman of green eyes and long, red hair. Over her forehead was the symbol that marked any Oracle. In her extended palms, the glowing form of the Heart of Kandrakar. That woman, a sympathetic and calm expression in her face, had been N'ghala; the first Oracle. When he felt depressed or troubled, Himerish usually came here, looked at the long time gone woman and found her sight calming. Sometimes he wished that Kandrakar's founder could speak with him from the mural and give him counsel.

"Her sight is marvelous, isn't it?" Himerish heard at his back. "It truly makes you want to be the best you can be."

Turning around Himerish saw the feminine and voluptuous form of Yua of Arkhanta. At her side walked young Maqui with a bored and apathetic expression, as per usual.

"Lady Yua." Himerish greeted. "Young Maqui." Himerish said to the boy in a softer tone. The boy kept looking at him in silence.

"Venerable Oracle Himerish." Yua greeted back. She was the only one that directed to him with both title and name. Understandable; after all, how many Oracles had the Eternal heart meet in her long life? It was much easier to remember with which of them you were talking if you also mentioned his name. She looked at the boy. "Maqui greets you too."

The boy raised a hand and let it that way until letting it drop again. Yua sighed. " _At least you could pretend being a little more lively, even if you are acting. I suppose that it's impossible for you..._ " the Banshee added in her thoughts.

"What are you two doing here, Eternal Heart?" Himerish asked.

Noting that the man hadn't any suspicions, Yua answered. "Maqui and I had been using the Grand Library lately. There are actually very few records regarding other worlds in Arkhanta. We Banshees live long and if we need to teach something we do it verbally."

"Doesn't Ari have his own library at his palace?" the Oracle asked.

"Oh, sure he does." Yua remarked, putting a hand under her chin and making a pout. "But Ari's library is mostly composed of tomes regarding military themes, and you have to agree in that every library pales in comparison with Kandrakar's. And Maqui here loves a good book, don't you, little one?" She ruffled the boy's hair, and surprisingly the child delivered a smile from the heart.

Himerish didn't say anything at the boy's sudden change of mood, but he also smiled. "You seem to care a lot for the boy."

"I know what is to lose your own mother; to see how the little family you have left sacrifice everything for you." Yua looked at the mural in front of her. "And how good it can be for you to have someone that believes in what you do, in what you want to be, in what you love." Yua fell silent as she lost herself into her memories, her sight focused into the images of the First Water Guardian and the First Oracle. "Why are you here, Himerish of Basilade? Why do you seek counsel in the image of your order's founder?"

"I don't know. Too much to name it now, I suppose. I usually come here; when I feel my conviction shaken."

"And why is that?" Yua asked.

"An Oracle doesn't intervene." Himerish declared. "That's a rule that has been followed in Kandrakar since its foundation. We Oracles don't make direct intervention over a problem. We let to the Guardians, or the forces of goodness of the very world where the problem is. We keep the Balance; and we try to guide the young and inexperienced if they request such."

"But?" Yua asked.

"But" Himerish said "I don't know if that is the best approach to something in every case. What if I had done something better if I intervened? If Kandrakar intervened? Take Phobos for an example. If I had stepped in and depose him from the beginning; so many lives could have been saved…"

"Venerable Oracle Himerish" Yua interrupted him. "Is this because you mourn your friend Endarno's loss? Blaming yourself by the fact that the current generation almost was destroyed in front of your eyes? Angry at the fact that your fellow sages of the Council of Light think that those brave girls shouldn't have been saved because they can be replaced, perhaps?" Yua made a pause. "I have been here, over this universe, over the soil and seas of every planet for millennia. I have seen many Oracles pass; some good and others bad. I have seen many things, but only one thing maintained itself constant. Things change; it's as simple as that. Rules were made to be broken, and sometimes even an Oracle had to think of that." The Banshee signaled the mural. "That's one of the things I learned from her" Yua declared pointing at N'ghala.

"You met the First Oracle?" asked Himerish.

"Oh, yes. I was pretty young back then; almost a child. You wouldn't recognize me in those years. Such undeveloped in the front…" Yua smirked and swung her hips, making her bust to bounce, delighting herself in the fact that the Oracle blushed trying not to look at the woman's huge bosom, to no avail. "I met N'ghala after she left Kandrakar. She had changed, and she was well. She even had a family of her own!"

Himerish looked perplexed at the Banshee. "No one in Kandrakar knows about that" the man whispered.

"Of course not" Yua added. "You are the first one that has been told about it. Making yourself questions about you is the way to outdo yourself; so making questions about Kandrakar it's the way to outdo Kandrakar. Himerish, there is nothing wrong with the decision that you made. You are a good Oracle. If you hadn't let your friend go, then those girls would be dead." Yua said. " _And it's not their time. Not yet._ " Yua thought to her own mind.

Himerish smiled at Yua and thought about what she had just said. Yes, Endarno's and Halinor's departure was a painful loss; so it was enraging the fact that someone like A'heres was now in charge of the prison that held of the most dangerous and cruel criminals in the universe and holding a powerful position within the Fortress of Light. But it was his duty to look forward. That was why an Oracle's sight only could drill into the future.

"I thank you, Yua of Arkhanta." Himerish said, adding a respectful bow. "You have made my mind clearer. Now if you could excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

"Of course, Venerable Oracle Himerish;" Yua said "and remember, sometimes even Oracles need advice."

Departing with a smile and a more calmed mind, Himerish said his farewells to the Banshee and the human child. Once the bald man had disappeared, Yua let out a repressed, large sigh. "Well, Maqui. I am a good actress or I am a good actress?"

The boy directed an annoyed glare to her. "Don't look at me like that. You found funny how red his face became when I bounced my breasts in front of him too."

Maqui giggled, admitting that he had found it funny too. "But seriously, he really looks tired, doesn't he Maqui?" Yua asked the little mute, and he nodded silently. "Ahaha! My dear niece has done such a great job, and she doesn't even know it!" the pair started to leave the Hal of Murals; leaving the images of the past generations and the First Oracle behind. "Now poor Himerish can't even see our intentions, and we are acting just in front of him… Maybe I should pay a visit to my dear little brother and congratulate him for his daughter's success."

The Banshee looked at Maqui, who was given the green haired woman another annoyed look. "I'm not meaning visiting in _that_ way. Even people like me have standards. Not very high, but here they are." Yua sentenced, pointing to her heart.

Maqui rolled his eyes. Yua smirked and lowered her voice. "Or perhaps we should get to Meridian sooner than planned and let you and Elyon to start knowing each other…"

Maqui's face became red and then he opened his mouth as if he was to talk, but then he closed it. Yua ruffled his hair again and putting her left arm around the boy's shoulder in a protective manner; the Eternal Heart and her protégé continued their walk through the Fortress of Light. As they walked each corridor and corner, the Banshee's thoughts went back to Himerish one more time.

" _Poor Oracle Himerish_." Yua thought. " _Yes, you are a good Oracle, truly a champion of the Light. But as those five children are going to find very soon, every light cast a shadow, and Kandrakar's has been shinning for so long…_ "

* * *

 ** _The world of Earth. December 30th. Morning._**

 ** _Chacon residence._**

Pain. It wasn't the only thing that she was feeling, but it was the most standing one. She had pain everywhere. In her arms, her legs, but above all else, in her belly. She opened her eyes slowly, letting the light of the place where she was to blind her momentarily before making things to take shape. She was in a room, and she was in some short of bed. Not her bed, it wasn't puffy enough for that, and she wasn't embracing one of her stuffed animals. Definitely not her home. However, there was something warm tied around her.

Hay Lin looked at her side, and her eyes met Irma's. "Hey, little airhead" said the Water Guardian. "How was the sleeping?" asked the brunette while smiling softly. The two of them where in two beds put next to each other. Well, the term bed was too good for that. They were just a pair of mattresses in the floor of some old house. Also, they were almost naked, remaining only in their underwear.

Hay Lin, however, wasn't as happy as Irma to have awakened. "Irma, your… your…"

"My face?" said the Water Guardian. "Yeah, it has seen better days…" Irma's face had a long scar shaped like an X over her nose. It wasn't a clean one; it looked like those scars that you get from hitting something so hard that a piece of your flesh goes off from the impact. For Irma, the scar had remained from her nose returning to its original form after being pasted against her face by a robotic punch. "But I'm pretty good in comparison with you." said Irma as she moved her hand over Hay Lin's stomach, caressing it. The asian girl looked down and saw a large scar running horizontally over her belly. She touched it too, seeing the scars that ran over her hands and now her arms too. She supposed that her legs weren't any different.

"Oh… we fought those… guys in that factory. I fought that woman and she" Hay Lin passed her hand over the scar again. " _Little girl_ " sounded a taunting voice in her head. "Ouch…"

"Yeah, that Doomstad guy did a big number on me. We are lucky that…" Irma was interrupted when Hay Lin pressed her lips against hers, kissing her passionately. Irma didn't have to think two times before giving into the kiss.

When the act of love broke, Hay Lin was smiling brightly. "I'm so glad that you are alive!" said the Air Guardian as she buried her head in Irma's chest and the brunette embraced her.

"I'm glad too" said Irma, and as she saw Hay Lin burying her face in her bust, she added " _pervert_ " in a whisper.

"Not wanting to interrupt, but you two maybe want to know that you aren't alone if you are going to make out." said an acquiescent tone.

Their faces blushing as tomatoes, both Air and Water Guardians looked to the voice's direction. There, lying in a couch, which put her a little higher than them, was Cornelia, lying over her stomach and also in underwear, one hand under a titled head; and the most impish of smiles in her face. "I know that you two always were pretty close, but I didn't see… oh, what I am saying, I could see it from kilometers away!"

"Corny, listen…!" said a blushed and enraged Irma, while Hay Lin's face became even redder.

"Don't take it like that, Irma. I think that you two are perfect for each other." said another voice, and turning around, the two lovers saw Taranee sitting under a window. In contrast with the other three, she was already dressed. "But by the way" said the Fire Guardian. "You really could see it from kilometers away."

"Tara!" said Irma, a little offended that the love that Hay Lin and she shared was so obvious.

"Not fair!" shouted Hay Lin. "I wanted to kiss Irma in front of everybody to let them know!"

"Yeah, listen to Hay-Hay and… wait; what?" asked Irma. "That was your awesome idea on how to tell them?"

Hay Lin nodded, giving Irma the best puppy eyes that she could put on. Beating by the cuteness, the Water Guardian smiled. "Well, if you insist…" and then she started to give Hay Lin little kisses all over the neck, making the asian girl giggle. "Wait, Irma, stop! You're… ahahahahah!"

The others burst into laughter too. The laugh echoed through the room and slowly, it faded away. "So, we lost, didn't we?" asked Irma, playing with some of Hay Lin's bangs with her hand, twisting the hair of the chinese girl between her fingers.

"Yes" answered Taranee. "And it wasn't some trick; they beat us, fair and square. We rushed in, we just wanted some info and they were waiting for us."

"Sylva had information about all of us" said Hay Lin "maybe they knew that we were coming from there?"

"Probably" said Cornelia. "How did we get out?"

"A sage from Kandrakar and Halinor rescued us." answered Taranee. "That Endarno guy, I think. He was the one to heal us."

"Patched up by the old timers, eh?" said Irma. "Man they have to feel… wait, do our parents know-?"

"My grandma!" yelled Hay Lin.

"Your grandma is here" said Cornelia. "I saw her this morning, she looked really tired. I suppose that she stayed all night at your bed's side."

"Oh, she must be so worried" said Hay Lin, thinking about her grandmother. Even if the chinese elder denied it, she really was worried about Hay Lin every time that she flew away in Guardian form. "Where are we, anyway?"

"In my house" said a fifth voice, as Cassidy Chacon appeared in the room. "Actually, you all are in my house's living room, over some mattresses and my old couch that I took from the attic. Sorry if they are dusty."

"You kidding, right?" said Cornelia, tapping the couch. "These things are the best."

"Did Corny just praise something that isn't of a famous brand?" asked Irma softly, just for Cornelia to throw one of the couch's cushions at her. This silly, childish action made all of them to laugh again.

As the laughter faded again, Irma looked at Cornelia, in a serious tone that she usually didn't use with the blonde." But the way, Corny" asked the Water Guardian. "Those things on your back?"

Cornelia knew about what Irma was talking about. Her own scars, decorating her back. "Khor, he… ripped my wings."

Irma and the others said nothing. There was nothing to be said, a 'sorry' would have been pointless and they knew it. "Hey" they all heard Hay Lin. "Where is Will?"

"She" said Cassidy "went out to the city, saying that she needed to do something."

"How was she?" asked Taranee.

"Physically? Better than you" said the former Guardian. "Psychologically…"

"She is blaming herself." said Cornelia, with a worried look. "It was her idea, her plan, she feels responsible. Agh! Is someone with her?"

"Matt went straightly after her just after she passed the door." answered Cassidy.

Cornelia sighed in relief. Good, Matt was the best one in this kind of situations. "And what do we do?" the blonde heard Hay Lin asking.

"For now, you all rest, and went back home before the sun is gone; specially you Taranee. Your mother was mad by the fact that you passed the night outside."

Something passed over the eyes of the Fire Guardian. A shadow of doubt, anger and, above all, sadness. "My mom, yeah" said Taranee, the words heard from Danny still reverberating in her head. She looked at the ceiling "I need to talk with her."

* * *

Outside, a man was leaning against one of the house's walls. Dressed like an earthling, Endarno of Basilade, now former Warden of the Tower of Mists; looked at his had. He could feel how the blessing of long life granted to the sages by the Oracle wasn't anymore in effect. He clenched his fist. His body was still the one of a warrior, and he still had magic. But eight and a half centuries of living were now pretty much taking their tool over the long haired bearded man's body. Long ago, when he had become a sage for the first time and granted long life by the Council of Light, he had been told by Tibor that there is nothing in this universe as eternal, or absolute. That even with long life, he could still age, and he could still die if he was injured, but he didn't give those advices enough concern. Now, when that power had been taken from him, he really understood that perfectly.

Everything is in constant change. His body, the people around him and the universe all of them live in. Even Kandrakar was now so much different than how it used to, if what he had read in the scrolls of the fortress' Grand Library was true, and probably it was.

" _Himerish_ " he thought " _I hope that you can handle without me around_."

"Lost in your thoughts?" asked a voice from the left.

Endarno looked and saw Yan Lin approaching with a warm cup of tea between her hands. "Yan Lin" saluted the man, the scars over his left eye itching as they hadn't done for decades.

"Endarno" saluted the former Guardian of Air. There was something in her tone. The usual politeness and cheerfulness that she used with everyone was completely gone. There was bitterness in the way she pronounced his name, but also kind of respect, or at least gratitude. She lend him the cup of tea. "Here; you need to warm up or you will freeze."

Endarno took the cup. He was a little reluctant at first, but he ended up with the warm container in his hands. The former sage and prison guard looked at the fuming liquid inside the cup, letting his face to be reflected in it. "Thank you" he said.

"Thank you for saving Hay Lin" retorted Yan Lin. There, the bitterness was inexistent for a moment. There was only gratitude. "Why aren't you inside?"

"Your former Guardian companions are inside. I think I wouldn't feel welcomed." answered the former sage.

"Is it because them or because Hay Lin and I are inside?" asked the chinese elder.

Endarno didn't answer, not that Yan Lin was expecting him to spoke or something. "Fine, keep all your thoughts for you, Endarno." Yan Lin was sounding annoyed, or even slightly angry. "But when you are ready to swallow that pride of yours, we will be waiting. I will be waiting. I have been waiting for more than the last three decades."

The asian old woman returned inside. She was preparing tea for Halinor, Kadma and Cassidy; also for her friend's mother too. It had been quite easy to explain the situation to the blind old woman. Frankly, Yan Lin doubted that she was as lucid as she was when all of them were teenagers. Or maybe she didn't care. She hadn't cared when Cassidy was brought back, because it made her happy. Maybe she had thought that, at her age, she didn't have time to make questions, just to be with her beloved daughter.

Endarno found himself alone again. He looked at the cup again, and felt a little angry with himself due to the fact that he was thinking about Himerish and that tower considering what was going on, and who was behind that house's door.

He took a gulp from the cup, let the flavor of the tea to fill his tongue before swallowing it and let its heat to warm his body. Smiling, he looked at his surroundings, the cold air making his locks of hair move slowly, the water pending from the branches of the leafless trees starting to freeze again and form ice and snow after a stormy night had cleared the white mantle.

He took another gulp. "Good Oolong Tea" mussed the former sage, and then he laughed; not knowing if it was to his own stupidity or to the fact that Yan Lin knew that he disliked Oolong Tea.

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield's streets._**

 ** _Will and Matt_**

The Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar and the only human member of the regents of Earth were walking quite fast through the streets of their city. Matt was trailing slightly behind her, only a pair of steps away from his girlfriend. When she had exited Cassidy's house like a hurricane, Matt had followed her, thinking that Will was blaming herself for what had happened to her friends. That was not far away from the truth; Will never was someone who couldn't just let a bad result to not affect her. But instead of sulking in a corner she was walking through the city like a tornado, an angry scowl in her face that made every person in the street to get out of her way.

Fist clenched, and one of them wrapped over a piece of paper, the redhead was going ahead like any bystander didn't matter. This left them looking offended at Matt, who just apologized the best way he could before he kept going after Will.

"Will… Will!" said the teenager Regent to the Keeper of the Heart. "Where are we going?"

Will didn't say anything, but she lent the paper that she had to Matt. The teenager looked at it, it was a little crumpled piece of paper; smashed due to Will's tension. Making it as flat as possibly as it was. It was a very usual calling card; the name of the person, his profession, his address and a telephone number. "Will?" asked Matt; lighten his steps and walking alongside of his girlfriend. "What's this?"

"We are going to see this guy." Will answered, her angry eyes not shifting from ahead.

Jaded, Matt jumped straight in front of Will's way. "Can you explain me why? Because I'm not going to let you go ahead if you don't."

"Read the name in the card" said the redhead.

"Theodore Riddle. Therapist to whoever needs help; Heatherfield Boulevard number… Okay, what is this all about?"

"When we were fighting Sylva, he mentioned that his boss' identity was 'a little riddle that we have to solve'." Stopping for a moment, Will continued. "Confronting Doomstad yesterday, he said that he had a 'little riddle' for us. And then I found this" she said, signaling to the card "in Hay Lin's pocket. It's the name of a therapist that a doctor in the hospital gave to her parents, Yan Lin explained me that."

"Will, that doesn't explain…" said Matt, but Will hold a finger in front of his mouth, silencing him.

"Let me finish" said the redhead. "At first I didn't give it too much importance, until I read his surname, Riddle, and my mind went back to what Sylva and Doomstad told us. That couldn't prove anything, of course, there was no relation. But then I remembered what you said. What did Kandrakar say about what happened to Sylva?"

"That his memories got extracted from his mind and that it was a very hard thing to." Matt answered.

"Did Doomstad or some of his people use that against us?" asked the redhead.

"Well, for what you tell me last night, no… but that doesn't…"

"So I gave it a try and I zapped a computer in Cassidy's house to found information in this Riddle guy." Will continued, not paying attention to her boyfriend's reasoning. "And what I found? Records that only go back to when he was in his middle thirties. There is nothing about his childhood, his youth; nothing until he popped out of nowhere with a doctorate in psychology, or psychiatry, or whatever; and established a consult here, in Heatherfield. Oh, and for the cherry on top? He returned with only hours of difference with the Doomstads."

Will was panting after that rant. There were people in the streets that were looking quite curiously at the redhead girl that had just told to a dark haired boy a bunch of nonsense. Maybe they were a couple that was fighting?

Will looked at Matt, almost pleading. "So, what do you say?"

"I say that your intuition is one of your best parts. And that we need to pay a visit to this Riddle, now." Matt answered. He wasn't hundred percent sure, but if this Riddle guy was the responsible for his grandfather's demise… he felt the presence of Shagon twirling within himself. Well, this old man had better not to be.

"Great" said the redhead. "Let's go and take some _couple counseling_."

* * *

Theodore Riddle was a man of habits, and also schedules that were planned to the millimeter. That is; he didn't like surprises. In his private life, his job or his plans for the Earth's freedom or magic; he wanted everything to go as it had been planned, and everyone acting as his psychological deductions had anticipated that they will act. Victor often said that it wasn't a very smart thing to do. There are always flukes, unpredictable and unknown factors that came in play and made everything chaotic and unstable.

An example? Raphael. The mercenary wasn't supposed to act the way he did, only motivated by his own psychosis. That had been something unplanned and therefore, an error in the plan. If Riddle hadn't acted as fast as he did, he was sure that he could have the hands of those five monsters over his throat by now.

Of course, Victor had taken advantage of Raphael's display and failure. He had found a replacement for him, and this Daniel had proven, albeit still a little quirky, more professional and mature than Raphael, which didn't say nothing in the mercenary's favor. Albeit very similar in a lot of ways, he liked the idea that Victor and he were a little different. Victor was, for all purposes, the opportunist, and the one that knew how to take advantage of even the worst situations. A businessman with a capital 'B'.

He, in the other hand, was the long time planner; the one that analyzed strengths and weakness of the plan, calculating every option and setting things up so the winner in the end would be him no matter how things developed.

And albeit both of them were really intelligent, it was clear to Riddle that Victor was better suited for battle than him (especially due to his wife. And Khor. And Daniel). So the old therapist let the struggles and 'field duty' to Victor. Age didn't pass in vain, after all. His body, albeit looking quite younger in comparison with other men of his age wasn't ready for punches and running anymore… not that it had been in any moment of his life.

If he had to compare both Victor and himself with chess players, he would say that Victor was a player that changed his strategy and style during the play to adjust to his opponent; and that himself was a player that liked to have won even before the play had started.  
And there, sitting behind his desk and being grateful for having such a good second in command while writing and filling some documents, his secretary called him.  
"Sir?" asked the voice of his secretary. "I know that you're busy, but there a pair of teens here that say that they need help. Urgently."

Riddle sighed. Until the plan, or at least the part regarding the so-called Guardians; was complete he would need to change his slogan for another.

"If there is a problem, I will tell them to leave."

"No, no. That won't be necessary." Riddle said. "If they are in need, I'm here to help." The bald man retired his paperwork from the table. "Let them in."

Theodore Riddle was a man that didn't like surprises. So in the moment that Wilhelmina Vandom and Matthew Olsen crossed the door and entered the room, albeit he didn't pretend to do it, his face showed surprise, or even worry. The two most prominent words that flashed in his mind were 'How?' and 'Why?' " _No, no. Relax yourself._ " Riddle thought. " _There is no reason to think that they aren't here for…_ " he looked at the redhead's eyes meanwhile her boyfriend closed the door. Years of experience with people with anger issues really had done well to him, now being able to recognize pure anger in a person with just looking at said person's eyes or body language. And that girl was angry.

Sighing, he looked how the couple approached him and how Miss Vandom took the seat in front of his desk and Mister Olsen took position behind her, arms closed, like he was some sort of bodyguard. Albeit not as angry as the redhead, Riddle could see that there was the intent of aggression behind the boy's posture. Good news was that he seemed free from that Shagon creature's control. Even if he distasted each magical being per equal, he knew that it was better to handle Matt Olsen than Shagon. Still, it was clear that these two weren't there to seek the man's help in their love life. And Raphael had insisted intensely during his information delivering that Wilhelmina's strategic and deductive abilities shouldn't be underestimated. In these types of situations…

"Miss Vandom" saluted the man, his tone stone cold. "Mister Olsen" said Riddle to Matt, his tone softening a little. "What do you want?"

Will remained glaring at him, a little offended by the man's polite demeanor. "Seriously? You just say 'hello'?" asked the redhead. "You aren't going to try and at least pretend that you are a normal psychiatrist?"

"First of all, Miss Vandom" started the bald man. "I'm a psychologist, I don't give medicaments and my approach to solve people's problems is based on emotional intervention and counseling. A psychiatrist would give you some psychotropic; and that isn't my style." Riddle took a sip of a water glass that was resting in the desk. "Second, pretending being what I'm not, or in this case, not being what I am would be pointless, and a loss of time. I would start rambling about not knowing what you are" he said at Will, his voice sounding like if he regarded Will as a thing instead of a person "you would start presenting me proofs of it; and we would end in the start point again. I don't like losing my time. So, what do you want?"

Will was taken a little by surprise. A bad guy that admitted being a bad guy from the beginning? That was new… No, if what Doomstad had said was true, none of these people thought about them like the bad guys, and even she was starting to have doubts about it. She looked around the room that served Riddle to have his therapy sessions. It was rather elegant, a couch in front of a simple chair in order to make the patients feel comfortable. The sensation that he was emanating now, however, with him sitting behind that desk, his titles and doctorates behind him… It made him look powerful. Her eyes rested over a chessboard with a pile of fallen pieces that hadn't been retired from the board. She signaled it.

"If I win" said the Quintessence Guardian. "You have to answer all my questions."

Riddle raised an eyebrow. Was she changeling him, _him who could read minds_ , to a chess game? "And if I win?" asked the man.

Will pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar from under her clothes. "If you win, you can take this from me."

"Will!" said Matt. Coming here was one thing, but risking the Heart to a complete stranger? An enemy? That was just… "You can't risk that in a chess game!"

"He is right; you shouldn't. That's the source of your powers, or at least an amplifier. The Heart of Kandrakar, I have heard of it. Without it, you aren't a real threat." Riddle pondered the offer. "Well, why not? I haven't enjoyed a good chess game since the last time that Victor and I have the luxury of playing; and that was months ago."

With a wave of his hand, the board and pieces flew towards them and landed perfectly in place, each piece in its square; Blacks for Riddle, Whites for Will. "Ladies first" said the man, and tranquilly, Will moved one of her pawns.

* * *

 ** _Cook residence_**

Taranee felt weird without her glasses. Sure, since becoming a Guardian she really didn't need them; the augmented healing proper of a Guardian helping her eyes to see where they couldn't before. But she had retained the glasses, more for retaining a prove that, in a point in time, she was just been a normal teenager, the most worrisome part of her life the prospect of failing an exam, getting bad grades and the fact of having to tell her mom about it. Her mom…

Taranee was waiting in front of her house's door. She knew that her mother was inside, waiting for her with two parts of anger and two parts of worry. When her hand reached the pommel, Taranee saw that she was trembling; and it wasn't due to the cold of winter. There were very few things that were able to cool a Guardian of Fire. No, in truth, she was afraid, afraid as she had never been in her life. Afraid of getting inside, talk to her mother and discover that what Danny had said to her, that what her boyfriend's brother had said to her, was true.

Breathing deeply, Taranee twisted the pommel. " _Let's go step by step_ "

"It's me" said the Fire Guardian. For some reason, she let the door open, thinking that it had to be like that. "It's me, I'm home!" She didn't heard noises from upstairs or from the living room. She heard them from the kitchen, however. Good thing, her mother was the only one in the house. Bad thing? Her mother was the only one in the house.

"Mom?" asked Taranee, entering the kitchen. "Are you in there?"

And there she was, Theresa Cook, her mother, the judge, the law-above-all-things woman. And if what Danny had told her was true, a criminal too. She was cleaning a little pile of plates, and Taranee could smell something in the oven. Fish, if she wasn't mistaken. "Mom?"

The woman let one of the plates with the others, under the water dirtied with both trash and soap. She dried of her hands, and turned around to Taranee. "Where have you been?!" yelled the woman, her short, bluish dark hair moving like crazy due to the violence of her action. "How could you not call, or inform me that you were going to spend the night out! In a stranger's home no less, independently of how close she may be with Hay Lin's grandmother!" There was the angry part.

Theresa's expression softened, and she looked at her daughter with a caring pair of eyes. Stroking her cheek, Theresa smiled. "You worried me. You should have told me that you weren't going to come home, even if it was something that just turned out, okay?" And there was the worried part.

Sighing, Theresa went back to her plates. "You should go to your room and change. I need help to let the food prepared for your father and you two before I go to work. You are grounded by the way, you aren't going to get rid of that even if I can understand that…"

By this point, Taranee wasn't listening anymore. The word grounded was the only thing in her head now. When they were kids, Theresa often called being grounded 'detention'. When asked by her children, she said that it was a judge's duty to punish criminals. And albeit it was said in a joke tone, Taranee really had taken up to that ideal. In her eyes, her mother, albeit harsh, had always been a champion of justice; a woman with an impeccable life punishing the people that had done some harm to the rest of the people.

" _Because the law is the law; independently of who you are_ ", that was her mother's motto.

"Taranee?" asked Theresa, getting the teen out of her head. "Are you listening to me? Seriously, if you at least don't try and…"

"Was it true?" asked Taranee. She wasn't thinking what she was doing. The words were leaving her mouth almost against her will.

"What was true?" asked a dumbfounded Theresa, still cleaning the plates. The smell of fish coming from the oven was intensifying. Soon it will need to be taken from the cooking machine.

"What Nigel's brother told me" Taranee didn't have control of her mouth anymore. There was something inside her that encouraged the girl to ask. "What you did, what Peter did. Was it true?"

A pate fell from the woman's hands and smashed against the ground, shattering. Theresa turned slowly, and Taranee saw something that she had never seen in her mother's eyes. Fear. "Wha- How..?" babbled her mother. "You talked to him? You visited him in-"

"He talked to me. He isn't in prison anymore." Taranee answered.

Theresa's eyes moved slowly from side to side. "But that's impossible. I insisted to…"

"To what? To have him under complete surveillance? To have him not talking with anyone alone? Worried about that he could say something to someone about you or Peter?" asked Taranee. Whatever was inside of her was now burning. "Tell me, it was true or not?"

"Taranee, listen…" pleaded the woman. The girl had never heard her mother plead.

"Tell me that it wasn't true" said the girl, and looking at her, her mother saw tears formed in her eyes. "Tell me that it was a lie and I will apologize for doubting you, I will go to my room, I won't get out with my friends never again! But please mom, tell me that it wasn't true."

Theresa stayed silent, not knowing what to do. Her eyes were still moving from one point to another, her mind trying to process what she just had heard. She couldn't belive it, it seemed unreal. No, perhaps the unreal thought had been t thinking that the truth couldn't come to the light sooner or later. "I can't." Theresa said.

And with those two words, the burning sensation inside of her exploded. Letting the tears run from her eyes, Taranee shouted. "You really did it, you put an innocent in jail!"

"I was trying to protect your brother! I protected my son!"

"How?!" yelled Taranee, and a few flames flew out of her hands. "By sending a good man into a dirty prison?! By breaking a family?! Do you know how Nigel feels about his brother?! Do you know what you have done to him?!"

"And what was I supposed to do?!" shouted back Theresa. "See my son, your brother, in jail?! Ruin his life when he was nothing but a confused kid?! Let him rot in a nauseating cell just because he committed an error?! Do you think that I would let that happen?!"

"An error?! An ERROR?!" shouted the black girl. "He killed… he _murdered_ a man! You…! You are a hypocrite!" said Taranee. The tears were gone, but her voice had become very heavy in her yells. "All those words about the law and justice, they were nothing, weren't they?! You…" realization hit Taranee. Her voice sounded now fragile "You didn't want me to stop seeing Nigel because you were worried about me…" she glared at Theresa. "You did it because you were worried that I could find out!"

Theresa looked defeated. And she really was. Year by year, she had avoided telling her daughter about all of this. She had tried to educate her daughter the best she could, made her into a good citizen. But how could she, if Theresa herself wasn't a good citizen to begin with?

"I just wanted you to be better than me" answered the woman. Taranee didn't say anything. She was just there, standing, her whole world crashing down, everything that she believed turned out to be a lie. Was it bad for a mother to protect her son, even if it was in expense of blaming a person for something that he didn't done?

"Taranee" said Theresa, trying to reach the teen's cheek and stroke it like she had done before. But Taranee stopped her, graving her arm with a strength that Theresa didn't know that her daughter had. Her hand was hot. Unnaturally hot.

"Don't touch me" said Taranee, and her words had venom in them. All that time, feeling proud of who her mother was, how much has she overjoyed when she had become a Guardian, a protector; just like her mother. Now all those emotions resulted to be… _based on a lie_. The hand's heat intensified, and even if she couldn't believe it, Theresa found herself feeling how her daughter was burning her. "You have no right to touch me!"

And with that angry yell, Taranee threw her mother to the floor. She impacted rather nicely, but in her arm she now sported a mark that matched with Taranee's hand. Seeing it and the scared look in her mother's face, Taranee's eyes brighten with terror and doubt. A part of her wanted to help her mother, the other one wanted to burn her again for all the lies. Not knowing what to do, and starting to cry again, the girl ran from her house, her face an expression of devastation. She ran and ran, even if her body still hurt from her fight the day before. She ran and ran.

Without a proper route, into Heatherfield's cold winter streets.

Theresa rose from the floor moments later. Truth b told, she didn't know how much time had really passed. She was in shock. She couldn't even feel the burn in her arm, and it was pretty bad. But she could see it. And in it, feel all the anger that her daughter had put in it. Not knowing what was happening, the judge exited the kitchen in pursuit of her daughter, but she found someone waiting for her in the door. There, arms behind his back, was Tom Lair, Irma's father. But from his officer suit to the saddened look on his face, Theresa knew that it wasn't a courtesy visit.

"I'm… I'm sorry Theresa, I really am." Tom said. "But I'm going to arrest you."

Seeing no escape this time, Theresa Cook just stood there, firmly. After all, no one, independently of who it may be, can't escape the law. "Tom" said the woman, while the police officer put cuffs in her hands. "Please, find my daughter."

The fish in the oven was burning now, black smoke coming from the appliance and the smell of burned and crisped fish filling the whole room, and soon the whole house. The smoke detectors started to give the alarm of fire, but no one was in the house to answer them.

* * *

Looking from afar, hidden by the shadows of an alley, as Theresa was driven out of her house to the light of the day, handcuffed as a vulgar smuggler; Danny Ashford couldn't avoid smiling behind the dark metallic mask that covered his face. It seemed that the police had really taken seriously the ' _anonymous e-mail_ ' that they had received detailing judge Cook's involvement in his case.

Doomstad was right; satisfaction really felt way better than revenge. If he had wanted revenge, he would have just snapped her neck with his new hands, but that couldn't have proved anything. No, it would have transformed her into a martyr. But now, she was going to be punished by the same justice she loved and defended so much.

Danny turned around and walked away. He would return to the manor, and thank Mister Doomstad. And as he walked away and thought that it wouldn't last long until the police got hold of Peter; for the first time in all the years since he was confined into that cell, Daniel Ashford felt in peace. Now, if he only could see his family...

* * *

 ** _Back with Will_**

"Checkmate" said the redhead, as he moved a pawn into the final line of the board and it transformed into a Queen; trapping Riddle's King between the powerful piece and one of her towers. Aside from that, very few pieces remained in the board. It had been really hard to win against this man, impossible to make him fall into a trap or a gambit. She had to dispose of all of his pieces except for the King in order to finally have him at her mercy. And it hadn't been easy, she losing a lot of pieces in the way to victory. But, sacrifices are necessary in order to win.

"Impressive" Riddle declared, recognizing the girl's ability. " _Another opportunist… mainly_ " he added in his thoughts " _I can see the ability to plan in a long term there too. Problematic._ "

"Well, you have won, Miss Vandom." said the man. "Ask."

Will smirked at him. He could see that the anger she felt was now accompanied by the feeling of victory. She thought that she was better than him. Great error.

"Why?" asked the redhead.

"Could you ask in more detail?" Riddle asked back.

"Why the hell are you trying to kill us?" Will detailed her previous question, making every word to sound as threatening as she could.

Riddle chuckled "How amusing, Sylva asked the same thing when I broke his mind." This made Matt to step a little nearer. Riddle looked at him for a moment, before his gaze returned to Will. Clearly the boy didn't like that Riddle had compared his girlfriend with his grandfather's killer.

"I will give you the same answer that I gave him then" Riddle said, and his expression became serious. "Because I hate you."

Will made a confused expression. "Oh, that's a pretty good reason for killing innocent lives! What have I and my friends ever done to…?"

"Let me finish" silenced her Riddle. "It's because I hate you. I hate what you are, I hate that you think that you are something that you aren't, and I hate what you represent. I hate Kandrakar and its so-called _Guardians_. I hate every being that calls itself magical."

"Great, another one" said Matt, reminded of Nerissa's hatred of Kandrakar and the pettiness behind it. "What did Kandrakar to you? Ruin your plans of amplifying your mental powers and unite all mankind in one mind and attain global peace? I have heard that one before."

"No, no boy. It has nothing to do with that. And I didn't acquire my telepathy and telekinesis until I came in contact with the likes of Kandrakar." Riddle said. "Kandrakar's so-called Guardians killed my wife."

Will and Matt felt something coming from that man; something like a breeze of cold air. The form that he had said it, the mix between sadness and hatred in his voice… there was no lie in those words.

"Excuse you?" asked Will, not believing him.

"You, or rather, I think that your predecessors: Mrs. Lin, Mrs. Starlighter, Mrs. Clarkson, Mrs. Crossnic and Mrs. Chacon; who, in an interesting turn of events, according to my records should be dead. They killed my wife."

Seeing the faces of the youngsters in front of him, Riddle understood that they didn't know. "Perhaps I should start from the beginning." Riddle stated.

"As you may know by now" started the man. "My real name isn't Theodore Riddle; or rather, before I got this name I had another one. Once I was known simply as Karl Ibsen, and I lived in Winchester with my wife, Tecla. Around forty-five years ago, people started to disappear from the streets at night. The city was a scared, pretty much like Heatherfield is now. There were thoughts of a serial killer running free in the streets, but the police didn't know what all that was about. They weren't proofs or clues into what was happening; only a pile of bodies left behind that seemed to have their life sucked out of them. There were people talking about vampires in town. Vampires! Every time I remember that one…" Riddle chuckled. "One day, my wife, my Tecla, disappeared. I pleaded and pleaded to the police to search her, but they said that they were too busy with the other cases. I was despaired. And then, five girls appeared at my door, asking questions about my wife. I told them all that I knew about Tecla, and then said that they could help." Riddle made a pause, and signaled to the Heart, still pending over Will's throat. "The woman that held that jewel before you said to me that they would get my wife back." Riddle put his hands under the desk, and let his shoulder to sink. "How stupid I was to believe her."

"Days passed, and I didn't meet the five girls again. Every new day, the city awakened with craters in the streets, cars smashes against the buildings, voltage breakdowns in entire neighborhoods. Rumors were spreading through the city; about how five angels fought demons every night. The men of the cathedral were going crazy. Of course, I put two and two together, and one night, tired of waiting, I went to the streets by myself, even if the public had been ordered to remain in their houses at night. What I found…"

* * *

 ** _Forty five years ago_**

 ** _Winchester; Hampshire. South of England_**.

Karl Ibsen had never believed himself the bravest man in the world. If he could avoid conflict, he would avoid it without doubt. Not that he was a coward, it was just that he disliked those kinds of complications. He had always thought that there were much better ways to solve conflicts than violence; that was the reason behind him studying psychology.

And, above all that, that was the reason Tecla loved him. Tecla Ibsen, née Nashton; was a young woman with auburn, curly short hair that looked almost of a tangerine tone under the sun's light. With a sharp face and a slightly pointy nose, a look of confidence always present in her eyes, and a passion for riddles that only was surpassed for her love for her husband. She had met Karl in the University, he studying psychology, she studying history. It wasn't one of those cases of ' _love at first sight_ ', of course. Actually, due to his nature, Karl had been rather shy at the hour of asking her out. At first, she had done it by mere compassion and because, well, let's be honest, it was really hard to not find the guy cute. Karl Ibsen was a man quite handsome. Not the classic definition of a hunk, but what you could call a cutie. Damn, she had a weak spot for cuties. And when finally talking to him, she discovered that he was rather funny, let's not speak about how smart he was. And of course, there was the fact that he was one of the few people, along her parents, that could resolve her riddles. So, after a few dates, they started getting out regularly, then dating, and finally marrying. After finishing their careers, finding a good job and passing over dozens of bad jobs; they finally bought a house there, in Winchester. Everything was going well, until Tecla's disappearance.

So Karl went to the streets, looking for those five angels. It couldn't be a coincidence; five girls showing up in his home and then rumors about five angels appearing in town. As he found out while avoiding the patrols and reaching the cathedral, they weren't rumors, and it wasn't a coincidence.

There is a moment in the life of every human being in which all his or her beliefs are shaken, or even shattered and impossible to rebuild. That night, while entering the cathedral following the rumors that there was a demon hiding in there, and the fact that the majority of the corpses were found in the cathedral's surroundings (something that the police had, for some reason, ignored); Karl Ibsen experienced that moment. And it broke him.

What he found behind the gates of the cathedral was nothing but chaos. How the people of the city, even if they were far away, couldn't heard it was something he couldn't understand. Going beyond simply being afraid, Karl Ibsen became terrified. In front of him, trashing the insides of the cathedral while conjuring the elements, were the five girls that had visited him, albeit they didn't look like girls anymore. They were dressed in really weird attires and they looked way older than before. And they had wings. And they were flying and… controlling the elements? Shooting lightning? Even years after seeing that, Karl would never know how he was able to not faint. Especially considering against what those girls were fighting.

It looked like a large, humanoid creature that reminded Karl of those Naga creatures he had read about in mythos. It had dark, purple skin that looked like stone, a large tail that comprehended all the low part of its body. The upper part was composed of a large but skinny torso, with long arms that ended in hands with only three fingers. Its head was bald and with pointy ears, and its mouth was circular, with three lines of teeth inside.

When Karl arrived, it seemed that the girls were losing. Three of them were unconscious in the floor; and only the black haired one and the one that looked chinese were now fighting that atrocity. Shooting a blast of lightning, the black haired one attacked the beast, but the energy that run through its body got channeled towards its mouth, and it ate the energy. And it grew bigger than before.

"Shit!" cursed the black haired woman, evading one of the things three-fingered claws. Karl hadn't noticed at firs, but she had a wound that went vertically over her left eye, leaving blood upon her eyeball and hindering her vision.

"Nerissa, stop it, you are just making her stronger!" said the chinese woman. Wait, her? That thing had a _genre_?

"Then what I'm supposed to do Yan Lin?!" shouted back the other woman, Nerissa, had called the other one. "Look at what she did to the others!" the flying female signaled to their three our commission companions, all of them behind a protective line consisting of the asian and the black haired flying women. It was clear that Karl hadn't stepped into the most desirable of situations.

Finding cover behind a pillar, Karl watched astonished how the chinese one, Yan Lin was her name, lifted the creature in the air using a mini-tornado and threw the thing against a wall. The other one, seeing that the lighting she was using wasn't working in the slightest, used it to levitate all the benches in the cathedral's nave and use them as projectiles against the creature. Hitting the being, and some of them even piercing through its stone-like skin, the creature roared in both pain and anger.

Using its tail, the Naga-like creature hit the asian girl, knocking her directly against the pillar that Karl was hiding behind. Looking at her, he knew that she was unconscious. That Nerissa woman was enraged as she could be; and Karl could see it in the way electricity ran through her entire body, making her long hair move like the tentacles of an octopus.

There was a pink jewel hanging from her neck, and at that moment of pure rage, the jewel started to glow intensely, and Nerissa was enveloped in its light, more lighting circling around her. Letting out a laughter that, to Karl's growing confusion, sounded too much like a moan.

The pillar that Yan Lin had crashed against falling apart, Karl was forced to move and come into the glowing woman's and the creature's range of vision. Both fighters looked at him, and the black haired woman smiled at him, in a way he didn't like in the slightest.

"You want energy, don't you?" said the glowing woman to the creature, who was looking at her like a child looks at a lollipop. "Go for it!"

And then the woman attacked him. Karl had no time to dodge, or move; or even react. Or even think. All he could do was to stand there, looking at the beam of pure pink energy coming at him at high speed. But then the creature jumped in front of him, and shielded him against the torrent of pure energy, which it started to absorb.

The creature started to glow pink like the girl, but there was something wrong. Instead of growing like before, the creature started to growl in pain, and its skin started to show several cracks in it. After several minutes, the creature couldn't hold it anymore, and the beam pierced through its chest, sending the being to the ground, a bleeding wound that painted the floor of the cathedral in purple and red in its chest. And then, silence, the only thing breaking it the breathing of a man that was in the verge of collapsing; the cracking of the stone-like skin of the Naga creature, and the sound that the sparks made by the lighting of the flying woman.

While Nerissa landed and the pink glow around her started to dim, the creature's skin broke completely and shattered, revealing a much smaller form, although the wound was still there. But that wasn't what shocked Karl. There, in the ground, bleeding to death… was his wife. His Tecla.

"Tecla?" asked the man, almost in whisper. The man looked at his wife's body, blood still spilling from her wound. Karl could see her chest still moment, a sign of breathing. She was still living. "Tecla!" shouted Karl, and rushed towards her.

Kneeling at her side, he looked at the hole blasted in her chest. It was so big… He wasn't any doctor, but he knew that she couldn't survive that. But… he had seen the impossible today. "Please!" the man yelled towards the black haired flying woman. "Please, help her! I know you can!"

Nerissa looked at him, and she didn't say a word. Instead, she started to conjure a teleportation for her and her companions.

"Please!" Karl pleaded.

"No." Nerissa answered solemnly.

"Why?! Goddamn it, why not?!" Karl yelled, feeling beaten to the end.

"Because" answered the black haired woman, as a green light enveloped her. "I am a Guardian of Kandrakar and my duty..." Nerissa breathed deeply and clapped her hands, making her and her companions disappear, leaving only her words behind " _is to slay evil and bring peace_."

Karl was left speechless when the quintet disappeared. He didn't know what to do. He felt like poking, and considering everything, maybe that was the best course of action. "Karl?" asked a weak voice. Looking over Tecla, he saw how she had opened her eyes.

"Tecla, oh my god; try to not speak, I will find help. I will call an ambulance…" rambled Karl, but his wife silencing him by taking his hands in hers. They were wet in blood.

"This is… all that I got left. It's yours…" a wave of energy passed from Tecla to Karl. Invading his body, he felt warm, and strength came to him. But none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was Tecla.

Coughing blood, and her wound pouring more of the red liquid, Karl held Tecla close. "There was… there was… I'm so sorry, Tecla." Karl was in the verge of tears.

"Karl, tell me, what I am that when you know what I am, I end existing?" asked the dying woman.

Karl looked at her, a sad smile in his face while tears were dropping from his eyes. "What?" asked the psychologist.

"I'm a… Riddle." Tecla Ibsen said, and those were, and forever will be, her last words.

* * *

 ** _The present_**

Will and Matt were looking at Riddle through the retelling of his wife's demise. Will had her hands down, under the desk and Matt was still standing behind her, but he was now leaning over Will's seat, supported on an arm. Riddle had maintained his previous pose, hands under his desk just like Will, shoulders down. He wasn't even looking at Will, instead looking at the chess board.

"When the police and the ambulances arrived it was too late" continued the bald man. "Tecla was gone, and I was the one to hold her in my arms while she was dying. Since that very night I had been able to use my mind in ways that no one else can." He looked at Will and his eyes flared. "You asked; so here is your answer. My reason to hate you. My reason to hate Kandrakar. It didn't matter how much time passed, I never got an explanation, and I never got an apology. All that I had was those words thundering and drilling inside my head, telling me that my wife, that the person that I loved more than anyone else in this universe; was a monster and _needed to be destroyed_. That's the reason I hate you. That's the reason I won't stop at anything, until I have _freed_ this world from you and the likes of you. No more Guardians, no more Knights of Destruction, or giant snakes terrorizing the population. I won't stop until this is a _world without magic_."

Riddle cracked his neck with a pained grimace, it was clear that retelling that moment had been stressful for him. "Now, I know that you have noticed" started the man. "That I have been holding a gun under the desk this entire time. And I know that you" Riddle looked at Will "have been conjuring one of those Quintessence lightning bolts in the same way."

Both looked eye to eye. "So, which is faster? My bullets, always faster than the mind, or your lightning?"

The two of them continued to stare into each other. Matt distanced himself from Will, after all he had heard, it was clear that this was something between the psychologist and the Guardian. The tension in the air grew denser and denser until it reached its peak. Then, both duelers rose from their seats, Will brandishing a Quintessence bolt and Riddle brandishing a gun, a classic revolver to be precise. While Riddle was determined to shot the girl, Will proved to be faster, and struck the man with lightning, sending him against the wall and making all his titles to fall from it. " _And that's the reason I hate direct conflict…_ " thought Riddle.

Seeing the psychologist grumble in pain as the lightning cursed through his body, Will turned around and directed to the door. "Matt, we are done here."

The teenage Regent followed into Will's footsteps, but before following her out, he looked back. "I'm sorry about what happened to your wife. But you try to harm Will or the others again" his eyes glowed green "and I will tear you apart."

"You would be stupid if you didn't" muttered the bald man, still in the ground, sparks around his body.

Matt left without another word, and Will and him exited the building. "And now?" asked the Regent.

"I need to go home" answered the redhead. "I need to do… something."

* * *

 ** _Vandom residence_**

As had happened with Taranee and her mother, Will also found Susan in the kitchen; preparing their dinner. The difference was that she also found Dean in it. Without being noticed, Will watched from the door as her mother and the history teacher prepared the food together. It didn't look like something really complicated, at least not from her current position. The two adult were smiling. Back in Fadden Hills, and even if she was much younger than now, she had never seen Susan and Anthony act that way. The two of them were very good with her, and it was clear that there wasn't any tension, or problems between the dark haired woman and the red haired man, but something was missing. Call it passion, call it… spark; but something was missing in that relationship, and both parents knew it. But whatever it was that her mother's relationship with her biological father lacked, Will knew that Susan and Dean had it. And it had been weird admitting it, after all that had happened between her mother and her. It had been weird for Will to admit that her mother loved her history teacher. Will sighed internally.

" _You can do this!_ " thought the redhead to herself, looking. " _Matt is with you, you can do this!_ _Take a deep breath, count to three like you always do before doing something important, step inside and say_ …"

"I'm home" declared the redhead, entering in the house finally. "And I've brought company!"

Susan looked to where her daughter's voice was coming from, happy to see both Will and Matt. "Well, if it isn't the excursionist. And Matt; good to see you! Have you and your grandfather finally come back to town?"

The mention of his grandfather took Matt by surprise. Of course, no one aside from the Guardians and the Regents knew about Herbert's demise and he knew that, but still. "Yeah… we got back yesterday."

"Oh well; do you want to stay for dinner? Dean and I were making something that I took from one of Anna's recipes, so I don't know how it will turn out, but it will be delicious anyway. Dean, we have a guest!"

Dean Collins appeared from the kitchen too, one of those ridiculous kitchen aprons with some overused joke written on it over his body. "Hello Will. Hello Matt, good to see you."

"Hi, Mr. Collins" answered the teen. "Why are they so happy?" whispered Matt into Will's ear. The redhead didn't want to answer that. It seemed that Susan and Dean had really taken advantage of her absence. She had heard them just one night, and she wasn't in the mood to tell Matt that the two adults were happy because they probably had been having sex while Will was fighting a giant werewolf demon.

"They… ah… I don't know" answered Will. She then tried to get her mother's attention. "Mom, wait, I need to" she breathed "I need to talk with you about something."

"About what?" asked Susan, and albeit the childlike smile remained in her face, there was something in her tone that had changed, showing worry. Her 'mother instincts' were starting to get alarmed at her daughter's words.

"Something important; really important." answered Will. "And I need you and Dean to turn whatever you were doing in the kitchen off and sit down and… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Susan's eyes were shifting between Will and Matt frenetically. Her face was started to fume. "Oh God, Will tell me that you aren't" Susan said, unnable to end the sentence.

"Mom?" asked Will, a little worried. "Tell you I'm not _what_?"

Susan looked again at Matt, who was as confused as her, and then to Will again. "You know, with him…"

Wait, was she-? Will looked at Matt, and then what her mother was implying hit her. Both teenagers' faces became as reds as tomatoes. "What?! No! No, no, no, no, no. I'm not-! We haven't even-! I mean-!" Will started to hyperventilate. "It's not that!" She then turned to Matt. "It's not that I don't want, really! I'm…" she breathed. "I think that we are complicating this more than needed…"

"But you aren't… _you know_ , right?" continued Susan, making Matt to blush uncomfortably even more.

"Mom! I'm not; Jesus! And Dean, stop laughing!" Will yelled at the teacher in the apron, who was finding this situation hilarious. "None of you two are ones to talk!"

"And why is that, young lady?" asked her mother.

"Oh, ' _The Bebop needs more energy!_ '; come on!" yelled Will.

This time, Susan was the one to blush. "Oh… you heard us."

"Of course I heard you! It was impossible not to hear you! The hell is a Bebop anyway?"

Dean raised his right hand and pointed his index towards the ceiling. "Well, the Bebop is the spacecraft that…" noticing both Will's and Susan's glares, the man contained himself. "I think that I will leave it for another moment."

Will grumbled something between her teeth. She really loved them, but sometimes her mother and Dean could prove to be even more immature than her. "But I really need you two to sit down, okay?"

"Well if you insist" said Susan, and she and Dean went to the kitchen, shut down everything that they were cooking, took a pair of chairs and sat in them. "And what is so important that we need to sit down?" asked the mother.

Slowly, Will pulled out the Heart from under her shirt. She held the pink jewel in front of Susan and Dean, her own face reflecting in the Heart's surface.

"Will?" Matt asked. "What are you doing?"

"Well, that's a pretty jewel, but haven't you have that one since…" Susan didn't finish her sentence, because while she was speaking Will gathered all her courage, and made her decision.

"Guardian Unite"

A flash of pink energy blinded all the presents for a moment, except for Will. When the flash disappeared and Susan and Dean were able to open their eyes, Will was in her Guardian form. Susan looked totally shocked at the woman in front of her. Emphasis on the word _woman_. It was her daughter, no doubt about that, but she was several inches taller; her figure more curvaceous and her bosom even bigger than Susan's. It was like Will had just jumped from puberty straight into adulthood. And that wasn't the strangest part. No, the most strange part was the pair of wings coming out her daughter's back, all her body wrapped into a really weird uniform that didn't left much to imagination, a purple-pink top combined with a skirt of a greenish blue and a pair of blue and green striped stockings in her legs; her feet inserted into a pair of middle heeled purple boots. The wings in Will's back started to flap, reminding Susan of the ones of a humming bird or a bee; and she started to fly, floating a few centimeters over the floor.

Flying. Her daughter was _FUCKING FLYING_!

"Ehm…. Tada!" Will said, opening her arms wide and smiling like a child that presents herself to her parent's in a disguise for the school play. "So... ehm... I don't know what to say. Do you like it?" asked the redhead.

Susan waited there, in her chair, mouth dropped. After several minutes evaluating, her mind took the most rational decision, and she fainted, falling from the chair.

"Mom!" "Susan!" shouted both Will and Dean at unison, coming into the woman's aid. Matt looked how the two of them helped the woman to not fall and smash herself against the floor. This was going to be so weird…

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield's Park_**

Tired from running without a course, Taranee had ended sitting into one of the park's benches. Breathing anxiously and tired from the running, she was breathing fast, almost hyperventilating. Her head was spinning, and her heart seemed in the verge of having an attack. Resting her arms in her knees and tights, Taranee let her head to hang in the free air between her legs; drops of sweat falling down from her forehead and hair; letting tiny marks in the cold ground under her. She was completely tired, and he knew that it were her emotions the ones to being tiring her, not the mad running. Well, the mad running had helped, but she knew that it wasn't the most important factor.

She was starting to feel cold and that couldn't be a good signal, considering she was the Fire Guardian. She considered her options. A) Went back home, where probably a bunch of policemen and her heartbroken father were awaiting her; B) Search for her brother, who probably was going to get arrested too; or C) Go back to Cassidy's home. Great, going to the house where an old and blind lady lived with her resurrected daughter had become her best option.

Taranee couldn't avoid smiling. All that time with Irma had really paid off if she could just look at the fact that her family had basically crumbled in a sarcastic manner. No, it wasn't like that. She was _forcing_ herself to smile; she was _forcing_ to look at it in a sarcastic manner. She couldn't think straight if she looked at it seriously. Everything, _everything_ she had thought about her mother and brother was a lie. Making her head stand again, she looked at the sky. Maybe going to Cassidy's house again wasn't so bad of an idea, after all her friends would probably be still there, considering their condition; especially Cornelia's. " _Yes_ " thought the Fire Guardian, getting up. " _That will be the best course of action…_ "

"You know, I found this situation comically karmic" a metallic voice stopped her in her tracks. Looking in the voice's direction, Taranee saw the robotic form of Danny Ashford. He was just there, arms crossed over his chest, looking at her. Putting one hand under his robotic chin, he started to walk, not even looking at Taranee. "You know, because your mother is going to jail, and your brother too; just like I was. And you and your dad are suffering, just like Nigel and my parents have been suffering for… _too much time_. It's almost poetic!"

The machine-man looked at her. "What's the matter Taranee? Too scared to talk?"

Not knowing exactly why, Taranee conjured a fireball in her hand and tossed it at Danny. Without the empowering of being in her Guardian form, the projectile just impacted against his face and faded in the wind.

"Really?" an amused Danny asked. "I tanked your flames in that fairy form of yours, and you think that you can harm me now This new body of mine was designed to handle volcano temperatures! I was made in order to be able to defeat you at your best."

"What do you want?!" shouted the black girl, sounding more scared than threatening.

"Nothing, actually. I was just enjoying the spectacle of your mother getting arrested by one of your friends' father, and then I thought of doing a few errands that the boss asked me to do; and I found you here; that's all. Well, see you later." Danny turned around and started to leave, the sound of his robotic prosthetics the only thing heard in the park.

"Oh yes… I almost forgot…" Danny said and jumped in a somersault in the air, landing just in front of Taranee. "If you ever came in contact with my brother again and it isn't for telling him all that your mother did to my family…!" The eyes behind the iron mask lighted in fury. "I will make sure that the next time there aren't any magical weirdoes to save you and your troop. And, by the way, Mr. Doomstad says to say hello to your friends."

This last sentence was what made Taranee's eyes to light, hers with real fire. "If you dare to touch a single hair of their heads, that armor won't protect you next time."

Danny didn't say anything. He just turned around again and left the park, this time for real. Once the cyborg was gone, Taranee ran again. This time, her destination was Cassidy's house.

* * *

 ** _Vandom residence_**

"You have wings too?" a surprisingly calm Dean Collins asked Matt Olsen while smoking a cigarette.

"Yes" the teenager Regent answered. "But mine are black and way bigger than Will's"

"Like a bat?" the teacher asked.

Matt shook his head. "More like a crow; it would look incredibly stupid if they looked like the ones of a bat. I didn't know that you smoke, by the way."

Dean gave a long and deep puff to his cigar. "I haven't smoke in a year and eleven months. But this seemed a good time to start again."

"I suppose." Matt shrugged. "Sorry for breaking your winning streak."

They had spent fifteen minutes trying to wake Susan up after Will transformed. When they managed to do so, she had woken up thinking that she had the strangest dream of her life, but Will appeared right in front of her, wings flapping and a modest 'hello' leaving her mouth. Those made Susan realize that it hadn't been a dream; and also made her puke in the carpet. While Matt and Dean had been cleaning the mess, Will had carried her mother to the couch and put a blanket over her. Both men had left them alone. They had a lot to talk. Sitting in the stairs that connected the street to the door of the house, Matt had been telling Collins all he knew about the girls and Kandrakar.

"And all that destruction that was blamed to a storm a few months ago, was done by..." Dean said.

"A giant snake shapeshifter with the power of two Hearts as backup. A Heart is a world's source of mystical energy, if you are going to ask later." Matt.

"Right. And that snake shapeshifter had that power because..."

"He swallowed his boss to gain his power." Matt continued. "He used to have a bookshop around here too."

"Wait, you mean 'Ye Olde Book Shop'? I bought things there! You mean that Hoffman guy was a giant snake all along?"

"Yeah. And his real name is Cedric, not whatever he called himself here."

"This is a lot to take in..." Dean said, puffing his cigarette even more.

"You are taking it very well, Mr. Collins." Matt acknowledged. "I was thinking that you would freak out or something."

"Well, you could say that I'm someone who freaks out internally." Dean admitted. "I don't know if that's better or worse." Dean extinguished the cigarette against the stairs made of concrete. "I hope that Susan can take it too."

* * *

Inside the house, in the living room; Susan Vandom was sitting in the couch, her lower body covered by one blanket and another one over her shoulders. In front of her was her teenage daughter, now with the body of an adult woman and flapping wings in her back. Every time she looked at the uniform of brilliant colors, she thought again that she was dreaming. But Will had made sure that she knew that this wasn't a dream by nipping her arm, adding a few sparks of that magical lightning of hers.

MAGICAL. The word had become usual in Will's explanations and tales. Through the whole conversation with her daughter, Susan, who always had been proud of being a rational human being; dismissing ideas such as 'Magic', or fantasy, or even 'God'; now she found herself lost. It was like Will had just taken her flawed, yet perfectly understandable world and smashed it with that jewel of hers. " _Heart_ " corrected Susan in her mind. " _It's not a jewel; it's a Heart_."

She felt incredibly stupid right now. It was like a child that just discovers that Santa isn't real and then says 'Whoa! How could I believe in that nonsense?'; except now it was the other way around. This time the nonsense was reality and reality had become nonsense. If what Will had told her was true, and considering what she could do it probably was; there were a bunch of other worlds out there, all of them populated by humans like herself AND other, non-human races. So there were other planets, and other sentient races apart of the human race; all of them capable of reason and languange. Which meant that her daughter had achieved what every astronaout dreamt about; moreover, she was making meeting aliens like if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"So... uhm... questions?" Will asked.

Susan looked at her daughter, and Will could see how incredibly tired her mother was. All the energy that she was irradiating from before was gone.

"So this Candricor..."

"Kandrakar" corrected Will.

"Right, that." Susan corrected. "This Kandrakar are your... bosses?"

"More or less, yes. They gave me and the others the Heart and named us the new Guardians."

"And your friends AND boyfriend are... magical too?" the word sounded strange coming from Susan mouth.

"Yes." the redhead said. "But Matt got his powers way after us."

"From Cornelia's little sister."

"Yes. She is a living Heart, just like Elyon." Will said.

"Elyon, who is a Princess from another world." Susan said in a deadpan tone.

"Well, she was a Princess when I met her." Will clarified. "But now she is a Queen. Because we helped her and a Rebellion deposing her evil older brother."

"Evil older brother..." Susan repeated in a low voice. It didn't make sense, and yet it did. "All the times you were... indisposed or doing something weird... was because of this?"

Will thought about the question. "Remember when the girls and I threw that slumber party months ago?"

Susan nodded slowly.

"Well, there was a woman named Nerissa who was invading our dreams and we thought that dreaming together we could defeat her. Which we did, but it turned out that it was part of her long term plan, and those dream attacks were just a way to weaken us." Will explaining. "Now she is trapped inside a magic jewel." the redhead added, seeing her mother's look of concern.

"And the... the terrorist attack in the mall?"

Susan shouldn't have asked that. She knew that in the moment her daughter lowered her eyes to the ground and a somber look took over her. "The mall." Wilf sighed. "We were there just shopping for Christmas, but then a psychopath threw a fucking robot at us... and there was dead people everywhere. We saved a lot, but still..."

"You saved those people at the mall?" Susan asked, stunned.

Will nodded. And then was when Susan understood how her daughter must have felt. How incredibly bad every failure, every live taken in front of her eyes must had felt. And for a moment she could see every punch and attack from a Lurden, every one of the vines that Phobos used to torture her, every one of Nerissa's lighting or Shagon's beams… she saw them all. And she understood all the stress and danger that she had faced and conquered; and how unjust she had been to her.

"Look mom, I know that it's a lot to take in, but I just wanted to…" Will started to explain her reason for telling Susan, but the mother interrupted the daughter.

"You saved those people. You saved worlds; en-" she couldn't even pronounce it properly "entire planets."

"Yes. Yes we did; me and the others. We all did it." Will said.

Susan got up from the couch and, almost jumping, she went to Will and put her arms around the flying girl; hugging her. The redhead was surprised, which her wings manifested by flapping even faster. "Mom?" asked Will softly.

"You… you…" Susan started to say, and Will noted that her voice sounded weird. She was sobbing.

" _Crap, I shouldn't have told her_." Will thought. " _Now she is going to start with that entire 'you have to be protected' stuff or maybe she thinks that I'm crazy or that this is all a hallucination even if I have already proven that it isn't…_ "

"You have no idea, but no idea of…" Susan said.

" _Here we go, just like always…_ " Will thought.

" _How proud I am of you_ "

"Huh? Come again?" a perplexed Will said.

"You have no idea of how proud of you I am right now." Susan said again. "I had… no idea of what you were going through, but… but… Oh God Will, I'm…"

Will hugged her back, and it was a tight hug. "It's okay mom. Please, stop before I cry too. I had… cried too much lately."

* * *

It was hard to made Susan stop crying. After the hug, Will was able to convince her to sit again, this time with the redhead at her side. Then, just because her mother asked to, Will indulged into showing off with her powers, making little objects in the house to come to life and dance in front of her mother, who slowly started to regain her composure and usual strength; changing the somber and sad look for one of sheer amazement, she clearly was enjoying the spectacle that her daughter was giving.

In the end, the two women found themselves laughing while sitting in the sofa at the expenses of a dancing electric mixer that Will had brought from the kitchen and that now was dancing over the table.

"Okay, I have another question." Susan asked after the electric mixer's display.

"You tell me." Will answered.

"Why does your body... ehem... grow?" Susan asked, signaling at Will's chest. "Because, it's really noticeable."

"Oh! Well it's not like growing. It's more like going to the point when your body it's at it's best." Will explained, trying to tell word by word what Yan Lin had told them five long ago. "If you are too younger then you will grow older and if you are too older then you will get younger. Something about magic making your body able to hold it."

Susan laughed. "Well that's convenient."

"Yep. You should have seen what kind of face I made when I first transformed."

"I bet that it was nothing compared with Matt's face when he first saw you transformed." Susan teased her daughter.

"Mom!" Will protested.

"Oh, don't give me a 'mom!'; young lady." Susan continued, amused. "Because when you were describbing his other form, you said that he is ripped; and you just used that tone of voice..."

"Mom, stop!" Will yelled.

"Okay, okay" Susan laughed a little between her teeth. " _I should have a talk with her like Dean suggested, because I doubt that those two can keep it if everytime they transform they become supermodels._ " she thought.

"But why now?" Susan asked. "Why tell me now of all times?"

Will gave a deep breath. "I need a bit of help, and I didn't know with whom talk about it, so I thought about you."

"Me?" Susan asked.

"Well, you are my mother." Will admitted. "You are supposed to guide me when I'm confused and all of that."

"Yes I am." Susan declared. "Now you tell me."

And Will did. The redhead told her mother what had happened with the Doomstads and Khor in that underground factory. She told her what they had done to them. All about the wounds, all about the slashes, the broken bones and the ripped wings. When Will had finished Susan had a very concerned look in her face.

"And that's all." Will said.

Susan kept staring at her daughter. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if saying something was useful here. Probably not. She just had kept listening, trying to understand how incredibly bad her daughter must had felt for being the one that having that plan and putting her friends in danger. And to think that she had acused her of irresponsanility so many times.

"When I woke up today" Will continued "I found the others and, well I felt guilty, but also very angry for what they had done to us. Short version, I found the guy behind all of this madness and… he told Matt and me that he wanted to kill us because the Guardians that were Guardians before us _killed his wife_."

Susan flinched. Not only because of the information, but because of how Will had said those words. She had sound… guilty "Are you sure that he wasn't lying?" the dark-skinned woman asked.

"It wasn't just the story mom; it was how he said it, and how he looked at me while doing it. He was so angry at them, and at us and me. There was no lie in what he said. And I don't know what to do now."

"Why?" asked Susan.

"Because Phobos was an asshole! And so was Cedric! And Nerissa was one of the most manipulative people that I ever known! It was… it wasn't easy fighting any of them, that's for sure; but I was sure that _I_ _was doing the right thing_ , that _my team was doing the right thing_! That we were being _the heroes_! But how I am supposed to fight people that want to avenge an innocent?! How I am supposed to fight people that want to help humanity?!"

"Will" Susan said, putting a calming hand over her daughter's shoulder. Under it, she could feel a torrent of low electricity running through the redhead's body. "It's not your fault, okay? You didn't kill that woman."

"But that's the point, mom" Will explained. "None of us did any harm. And yet, my friends almost died because CHYKN killed her, and Kandrakar apparently just shrugged it off."

"And then why are you sounding guilty?" Susan asked. Damn it, she wanted to hug her baby girl and not let her go never again, never let her go flying on those adventures again. But she knew that it was too late for that.

"I don't know! What does all this make me? What does it make us? We are heroes, or we are soldiers at Kandrakar's service? What does that make Kandrakar?! Is everyone that they fight truly evil or they just disobeyed them? I don't know what to do!"

Susan looked at Will, and hugged her. And her poor girl just broke in tears in her embrace. Susan now knew that, even if Will was much stronger than she thought in some ways; she also was still a girl, still a confused teenager in some others. Rubbing her daughter's back, being extremely careful in order to not harm her wings in any way, Susan kissed Will's cheek, The flavor of tears was still there, product of the falling drops of water that were coming from her eyes. "Will, listen. The world is complicated. And considering that out there are worlds as diverse and populated as ours; then the universe is complicated, extremelly complicated. You cannot ask for everyone to be good or evil, that's just plain unrealistic. Something good can be done in the name of something bad; and something bad in the name of something good. That's how people work, and I suppose that it doesn't matter if you are from Earth, or Meridian, or… Zimballa, Zumbally, Zamballa or whatever that one is called. Of course there are plain bad people and plain good people. But the majority is just… plain grey. Take this Riddle man, for example. He is just trying to avenge an innocent, you have all the reason in there; but he put everything in motion for what happened in the mall and to you to happenning in the first place. From my point of view; he just sounds like someone that just wants revenge at all costs and that had been overcome by grief and hatred. And that's wrong, and nothing will change that. The same goes for Victor Doomstad. You and your friends aren't a cancer, you are people, and even if he grants fucking immortality to every human being in existence, that you are people trying to do your best won't change."

Will sniffed, and Susan put her daughter's head in her lap, letting the girl rest. "But, you asked for my council, and like you said I'm your mother, so… since you listened to Riddle's story, why don't you listen to Yan Lin's part of it?"

Will turned her head upwards, looking at Susan. "I… didn't think of that. I was just…"

"Focusing too much in the now, yes." Susan chuckled. "I used to do that a lot too, when I was your age. And when I wasn't, too." She started to caress Will's hair. "But you can't judge a situation without knowing every point of view of the people in that situation. Go and speak with your seniors. And then, when you know what happened from theirpoint of view, you will be able to build your own opinion."

"You never did that with me…" muttered Will. There wasn't anger or protest in her voice. She had said that like a fact; because that's what it was.

"I know" Susan admitted, and the helped Will to stand up. Taking the redhead's hands between hers, Susan looked at Will's eyes; those reddish, alive, emotional and _magical_ eyes. "And I'm sorry for that. If I had knew about all that you have been through… But now I know, and Will" Susan smiled at her "you aren't a cancer neither you are a monster. You are my daughter and I love you. You have saved worlds, you have saved innocent lives, you have given people hope. You are a hero, and nothing will ever change that. Now, get up from this couch of ours, take your boyfriend and go to your friends. They are worried for you, I'm sure of that."

Will dried her tears with her arm and looked at her mother. Now she was the one to hug her by surprise. "Thank you, mom. I love you too."

They lasted like that enough time for Will to calm down. Then they broke the hug and, as recommended, Will told Matt and Collins to enter and she decided to take her boyfriend with her back to Cassidy's house. She reverted back to her normal, human form and put her at Matt's side. "Thanks again, mom. Hey, do you want to see something cool?"

"Sure" Susan admitted. And then Will clapped her hands and using a teleportation, she and Matt disappeared right in front of them, enveloped by a green light.

Susan and Dean then were left alone in the house. The ginger haired man approached his girlfriend, putting an arm around her shoulders and bringing her close to him. "And how are you feeling now?"

"Worried" Susan said. "And also sad, and happy, and stupid, and angry. But above all else, I'm feeling proud. Incredibly proud of her."

"Me too" Dean said, and kissed her. He then looked around and saw all the formerly alive home appliances, scattered around. "Uhm… what exactly happened here?"

"A musical of sorts." Susan answered.

"And we aren't going to clean it up?"

"Why?" asked the woman. "My daughter can do magic and bring electronic beings to life. Actually, I think that she has been skipping a lot of work ."

Both adults laughed at the joke.

"Magic" repeated Dean.

"Magic" Susan said again.

"Have you something against smokers?" Dean asked.

"No" his girlfriend answered. "In fact, if you have a cigarette, I'll gladly have it."

* * *

 ** _Chacon residence_**

It was still too early. The sun hadn't reached its peak, so when Will and Matt arrived back at Cassidy's house she thought that maybe she had woken up too soon. She hadn't even had breakfast, and because of her hotheaded behavior, neither had Matt. Fortunately, when both Regent and Guardian went inside they found Cornelia, Irma and Hay Lin in the house's kitchen, having theirs. Will noted that the heating was on, making the inside of the house warm and pleasant.

Sitting at a round table, the Earth Guardian was having a simple cup of coffee with a toast, her body dressed in a long, white and old-fashioned nightgown, her long blond hair put in a disheveled hair bun. She was looking quite charming, though. Cornelia was that kind of person that could give an air of elegancy to even old fashioned nightgowns borrowed from women that had spent the last forty years dead and now were walking again between the living. Cornelia's face, however, wasn't looking as elegant as her. She looked quite annoyed, probably due to the spectacle that was being displayed in front of her. "Could you two stop that already?" the blonde said, in her usual protest tone that made her sound like a egotistical rich kid.

"Aw, you are just jealous that Caleb isn't here so you can do this with him…" teased Irma, sitting in the opposite side of the table. At her side was Hay Lin, sitting very close to her; both teenagers in very similar night. It was hard to say if both Water and Air Guardians were sharing the same chair or not. But what struck Will and Matt wasn't that fact, no. What surprised them was the fact that they were giving biscuits to each other; both teenagers drinking tea (probably done by Yan Lin) and if some piece of the biscuits was left into face of one of them, the other one just licked and ate it from their faces. And in between, they gave little kisses into each other's necks and cheeks. And then one long kiss in the mouth… Okay, what the hell was going on?

"Eh… Hello?" Will said, trying to gain the attention of the others. Matt was as confused as she was, and also a little ashamed by the girls' behavior.

"Oh thank God, a matured and developed couple" Cornelia said upon noticing Will and Matt. "Please, control the children."

"Say no, Will!" Hay Lin shouted. "You and Matt should do cuddles too!"

Not knowing what exactly was going on; Will and Matt took seat in the round table, and Cornelia passed the basket containing the biscuits to them. The blonde signaled one thermo "Coffee?" she then signaled another one "Or Oolong tea?"

"Coffee" answered both teens.

Taking sips from the cup that Cornelia had served her, Will looked at her friends. "How are you feeling?" the redhead asked.

"Now? I'm fine; these two seem better than ever" answered Cornelia, pointing to the lovebirds.

"So, who took the first step?" Matt asked.

"I did!" cheered Hay Lin. "I kissed her on Christmas."

"Hay-Hay!" said Irma, though she was getting better at bearing her girlfriend's ways of telling people that they were together. Now she sounded more annoyed than angry, and with time, she thought that she would end sounding funny; like how her mother sounded while scowling her dad… Oh God, she was transforming into her mother.

While Irma was copping with hereditary mannerisms; Matt looked at Will. "Told you."

"Yeah, I was expecting Irma to be the one to ask Hay Lin out." Will admitted. "My loss."

"Was really so obvious?" Hay Lin asked this time, leaning against Irma.

"Well, yes, yes it was" Will answered.

"Even I could see it." Matt added.

"Okay, then goodfor you." Irma continued, eating another biscuit while she was serving herself her fourth cup of tea. "At least you didn't make bets."

Cornelia smiled maliciously. "Well, the truth is…"

Irma pointed her index finger at her. "Don't. You. Dare."

Having breakfast all together, Will noticed that in fact, they weren't all together. "Hey, where is Taranee?"

"She went home. She said hat she had to speak with her mother." Cornelia answered. "Where have you been?"

"Well, I have been speaking with my mom too. And, also finding some answers." the redhead answered.

"Answers about…?" asked Irma.

"Yeah, about all this madness; about Doomstad and why is he doing what he is doing. There is a man named Theodore Riddle behind all of them." Will answered.

"Another man pulling the strings from the shadows?" Irma asked. "This is becoming too typical for my taste. Where are we now, _Young Justice_?"

"What?" Will, Hay Lin and Cornelia asked in unison.

"I watched that one, it was pretty good" Matt said with a nod, and then he took a little more coffee from his cup. "It's a shame that it got cancelled."

"Okay, I think that you two will have time to talk about cartoons when we have listened to the information that Will has about the people that are trying to kill us!"

"Yes ma'am" Irma answered.

"Okay, but just to be certain, I'm not carrying good news." the redhead commented.

"Me neither."

Turning into the voice's direction, all presents saw Taranee at the kitchen's door. She was sweating from her running to here, and she looked mortified.

"I don't like that face." Hay Lin said as Taranee approached the table and took a seat too, near her leader. "I don't like that face one bit."

"I think that you two need to tell us what has happened when you were outside." Cornelia said.

Taranee looked at Will, and the redhead insisted. "Please, you first."

Taranee took a deep breath and looked at her friends. "Well, the thing is that my brother and Nigel's brother…"

* * *

 ** _Two explanations and several questions later_**

After listening to both Taranee's and Will's words, and making a lot of questions through the telling, the quintet of girls and Matt were now quiet, all of them taking in what the two girls had said to them.

"I can't believe that my grandma never told me about this." Hay Lin looked down, eyes half closed. The scar in her stomach was now hurting really bad.

"And I can't believe what your brother did." Cornelia told Taranee. The blonde had almost hugged herself, taking a protective pose. It was clear that the reveal of what the guy who could have been her new boyfriend if it wasn't for circunstances had really taken its tool over the Earth Guardian. "I simply can't."

"I couldn't believe it when I hear it the first time... but it's true." Taranee admitted. "I suppose that he is being arrested by now..."

"Agh" Irma complained. "You all can call me crazy, but I'm starting to miss when we only had to fight the power-sucking maniac from another world."

"Yeah, things really were easier back then." Will admitted. It was weird thinking about Phobos like he was the lesser evil. "But I really think that we should talk with your grandma, Hay Lin. Maybe she and the others can put some light into all this."

"The old timers are outside, in the garden" Irma said. "I think that they are remembering old times."

"Good" said their leader and the sen sat up. "Because that's exactly what we need them to do. Is that guy from Kandrakar still here?"

"Mr. Endarno? He is here, but he doesn't seem to like grandma and the others." Hay Lin stated. "He is upstairs."

"Bring him down here. If he was a high-ranking sage in the Fortress he may know about those Purges Khor mentioned. And I want to know what the hell those were too." Will started to leave towards the garden. "Because I'm done with not knowing nothing about anything."

"I'm with you in that." Taranee said, following Will in tow. Cornelia, Irma and Matt followed after that and Hay Lin went upstairs, looking for Endarno.

* * *

Upstairs, the former Warden of the Tower of Mists was inspecting the house, more to avoid boredom than anything else. Old Mrs. Chacon had maintained Cassidy's room as it was in the moment of her demise, probably an homage to her too early departed daughter. Now that Cassidy was back, it had come in handy. Endarno supposed that the resurrected woman was adapting to the new era step by step. After all, forty years in a world like Earth entitled a lot of change.

Endarno looked at his clothes, and old suit taken out directly from the fifties, that probably had belonged to one of the male members of Cassidy's family. In the former Guardian of Water own words ' _Even someone like you deserves something to wear that isn't an old-fashioned robe._ '

He looked in a mirror. His long, black and white dreadlocks, combined with his beard and the scar over his left eye really didn't fit with the suit. Or maybe they did, and they give him an air of mystery. He didn't know; he wasn't from this planet after all, and fashion was quite easier in both Kandrakar ad Basilade. Well, at least he had been able to avoid Yan Lin and Hay Lin for quite some time, considering that they were in the same…

"Mr. Endarno?"

Oh crap.

Hay Lin had appeared right at his side while he was looking himself in the mirror. The girl was dressed into one of Cassidy's old nightgowns. Endarno thought for a moment how much of those Cassidy had in order to being giving them like that; but his internal question was interrupted when he noticed the scars in the girl's hands. He knew that they were other scars all over her body. And yet, there it was the girl, smiling at him, waiting for his response.

"Yes?" the retired sage retorted.

"We need you in the garden. The others want to speak with grandma and the others; and we will like to speak with you." the Air Guardian explained.

Endarno was looking at her for too much time. If not for the long ponytails and the fact that she was younger, he would have mistaken her for Yan Lin. "I will be there in a moment."

"Cool! See you in a moment, Mr. Endarno!" the girl cheered and started to leave the room.

"Wait!" stopped her Endarno. "Look, I know that probably a lot of people say this to you, but; you really look a lot like your grandmother when she was young."

"Yep!" Hay Lin said, a little surprised for the comment, nut also flattered. "A lot of people say that to me, I'm glad about that. Dad says it to me a lot; but that's because me and grandma usually team up to joke with him and mom."

"Your father…" Endarno muttered, but Hay Lin couldn't hear him. "I will go down in a moment. Wait for me at the garden, please."

Hay Lin smiled and dashed downstairs. Endarno looked in the mirror again and adjusted his suit. He sighed and laughed sarcastically. "You old fool…" he said at his reflection. "You are the most idiotic person in this universe."

* * *

In the garden, Cassidy and her mother had installed some kind of gas stove that looked like a large and bulk streetlight that created flames in its top. Positioned near a pair of large parasols nailed in the ground; the gas stove delivered warm to the rectangular table that was lying under the large umbrellas, making people able to be there, even in winter. Wearing thick fur coats over their nightgowns (at least the ones that were wearing them) the quintet of girls and Matt were sitting at said rectangular table, looking at the group of four conformed by their predecessors; sitting in front of them. Yan Lin and Cassidy were wearing their usual attires, but Halinor and Kadma looked much more… 'Civilian'. Of course, anything would look civilian in contrast with the attire of sage of Kandrakar or a Queen of Zamballa. Apparently, the former Guardian of Earth was now living in Fadden Hills; Will's former residence; a town not so far away from Heatherfield.

After a couple of minutes, Endarno arrived and took the seat at the head of the table. No one, sans from Yan Lin and himself noticed the silent glares that the two elders gave each other. Finally all of them gathered, Kadma signaled Will. "Well, what do you want to ask us?"

Taking a deep breath and sighing, the redhead spoke. "Do you all remember Winchester, from forty five years ago?"

Their seniors were a little surprised by the question. "I think that I remember" Halinor answered. "It was when the Oracle sent the five of us to hunt those creatures that were sucking the live out of people in England. How were they called…?"

"And do you all remember a man named Karl Ibsen?" it was Cornelia now, sitting right at her leaders side, just like Matt.

The four elders looked at each other in confusion. They clearly didn't know who the man was. "Should we?" Kadma asked.

"I think I remember." Cassidy interrupted. "It was that cute man that we visited for information. Why is he important?"

"Guess who is trying to kill us" Irma deadpanned.

"But that's ridiculous." Halinor commented. "He was just a normal man, he can't be behind all this."

"Apparently" the redhead took the reins of the conversation again. "You killed his wife, who at that time was transformed into a very ugly monster. But you killed her, and now he is hell-bent into killing us, and anything magical that walks in this planet."

Will looked at the four old ladies, each one of them shocked from that information. "That's why we are here. Look, I'm not pointing to anyone, but we need an explanation, we deserve one."

"And why am I requested here?" Endarno asked from the head of the table.

"Because I want to know what something called 'The Purges' is." Will answered. "So when they finish what they have to tell us, you will tell my team everything that you know; because, seriously, we are pretty sick of all the secretiveness and of every failure of your past coming back and biting us in the butt."

Endarno looked surprised too. Was she referring to the Purges of Earth? How did she know about that? He felt his stomach flinching. Even the most traditional sages of Kandrakar tried to forget about that event.

"I think that I remember now." Yan Lin said. She looked at her former team members, and she looked both happy and melancholically nostalgic. "If you all allow me…"

"Well, you always were the best one telling stories." Cassidy acknowledged, and it seemed that the former Guardians of Fire and Earth agreed with her.

"Well" Yan Lin looked at the girls and Matt, all of them looking like one being, and for the first time she felt like there was really an abyss between them. That all the secrets and half truths had finally took their tool in them. It was time to make amends. "If I remember correctly, it was some time after we were bestowed the role of Guardians. The Oracle called for us and informed that something was interfering with Earth's Balance; murdering people…"

Yan Lin looked thoughtful for a moment, and took a finger to her wrinkled chin. "Something called… _Ragorlang._ "

 _The brightest flame casts the darkest shadow_.  George R.R. Martin

* * *

 **A/N: And done; people! That was the fifth part of the Riddle Arc. I really hope that you enjoyed it. I think that this chapter sums up what this arc is intended to be. The girls are good, but their current enemy isn't also the worst person in the universe. Riddle is a broken man, and I designed him thinking about that type of antagonist that goes ballistic because he doesn't know what else to do. Since I like TV Tropes, I suppose that Riddle fits the archetype of something called a Knight Templar, a person that (due normally to personal tragedy, but obsession too) thinks that he or she has to purge the world from everything that reminds him of something that they judge as naturally evil. In this case, anything that is magical, hence 'the world without magic' that Riddle wants. As for Tecla Ibsen, Karl Ibsen and the Ragorlang; they are from one of the comic's story arcs. There, they were the bad guys, and they were sucking life force in order to maintain their youth. Pretty plain, eh? So I took them and I transformed them into tragedy figures; just normal people taken in the middle of a storm by chance. Also, in the comics, Riddle and Karl were totally different people and completely unrelated, but since this is my version and I can do whatever I want with it; they are the same person.**

 **Next chapter is "The Other Side of the Story" (this was too a chapter in the comics that told the story of CHYKN) and it will be mainly a flashback into CHYKN's times as Guardians and what happened in Winchester from their point of view. It will be coming in November, I think.**

 **Until then, have pleasant nights and dreams.**


	12. Chapter 12: Riddle Arc Part VI

**A/N: Hey, readers! Wondertown9 here; hopping that you all enjoyed last chapter and that you are eager to see this one. As said in the closing Author Notes of the previous chapter; this is going to be a chapter focusing primarily on CHYKN and their mission in Winchester with the Ragorlang. And I really hope that you like this one. Also, it was a little weird writing the old generation and how they are similar but also different from the girls… Just wanted to tell you all that. Also, to anyone reading this and that lives in good, old and beautiful Winchester, apologies beforehand if I haven't captured how it looks as it is. Because I have never been in Winchester, but I choose that place, so here we are.**

 **But, onto the chapter.**

 **As always, enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it!**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter twelve

Riddle Arc. Part six

The Other Side of the Story

 ** _Forty-five years ago._**

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of the Infinity_**

"It truly is a worrisome matter, Oracle" the voice of sage Tibor echoed through the meeting chamber of the Council of Light. "But how is it possible? I thought that they were extinguished in the times of your predecessor."

As per usual, Oracle Himerish stood in the center of the meeting chamber; delivering his precognitions while legs crossed in a meditational position and levitating in the air. He had been telling the council of his latest vision; a vision depicting a creature of black, stone-like skin roaming the streets of an earthling city. A creature that Himerish knew being named Ragorlang, a despicable parasitic monster that feeds in the energy of other living beings and that was believed to be dead so long ago. "Such was the general believe." the bald man admitted to his counselor and friend. "But I fear that maybe some of their brethren survived; hiding for enough time to regain their former strength." Himerish made a pause. "And now they are moving against the people of Earth."

"Then what about the Heart of Earth? Shouldn't she be the responsible of these matters and take action about it?" an unknown sage asked.

"Unfortunately, since the demise of the legendary Ymir, there has not been an heir to that power." Himerish admitted, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Or at least none that we have known of, you all know what the legend says."

"Then we only had one choice" Himerish heard another sage mutter.

"Indeed" Himerish made a gesture towards one of the sages, a little man with a long beard and even longer, pointy ears. Clearly not a human being. "Alfor, gather the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions. Tell them that they had a mission to accomplish."

The little man bowed, and smiled at his leader. "It shall be done, Oracle."

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield_**

Yan Lin never had been someone that overslept. Even as a child, she would woke up early and start making trouble around her house, to her parents' grief. This little and annoying hobby of hers disappeared with the pass of the years, but the habit of waking up early didn't. Every day, at seven thirty A.M at the latest; she would woke up, go to take breakfast, wash and dress up; and head to school. Even if school started at nine, and she was prepared at latest by quarter past eight, which let her be in the entrance of Sheffield Institute by quarter to nine _if she was_ _slow_ ; she would still wake up at seven thirty A.M; and she would face her day with a smile and a happy attitude. ' _If you focus too much in negative aspects of life, you will only draw bad karma towards you_ '; used to say her father, Zhōu Lin. The middle aged chinese man had moved to America from china years ago, when his wife was pregnant with Yan Lin. Much like Herbert Olsen years after him, he had chosen Heatherfield due to its peaceful nature. A man that didn't bothered with appearances, not bothered with the fact that he was rather a small man and that he was balding, or the fact that some people judged his long, Fu Manchu styled moustache as stereotypical, he had opened the Silver Dragon in the city, hoping that the scent of exotic food and the air of mystery that surrounded China in this part of the world would give them enough clients.

Yan's mother; Yu Lin, helped her husband in the restaurant; and was quite insisting in the fact that Yan Lin studied enough so she could aspire to something better than serve meals to strangers in top to serve her own family. So Yan Lin's insistence of helping in the restaurant every time she could instead of studying wasn't well received by the woman; albeit she was grateful for having help in the kitchen. However, this disposition would change in the moment the chinese couple was able to find a good assistant for the restaurant; so Yan Lin could finally focus in her own life; not the ones of her parents. For the time being, she welcomed her daughter in the kitchens, especially in days like this, when the restaurant was full.

"See, didn't I tell you?" the voice of Zhōu sounded strong while he used a long kitchen knife to cut heads from fishes. "If you look positively at life; life looks into you with positive eyes! If you give others good things, life gives you good things!" The knife fell and took another head from another fish. Of course, Zhōu was referring to the fact that almost every table in the Silver Dragon was reserved. The restaurant hadn't start as good as the chinese couple had thought, but it seemed that it was starting to finally gather attention.

"Yes father. Our good deeds are what make us prosper" the young Yan Lin answered. Standing next to her father, she was peeling garlic while he decapitated the fishes. "But it's not only about thinking to do good deeds because you are going to be rewarded. It has to be born from you."

"Exactly!" Zhōu exclaimed, throwing the fish heads into a trash can. "Give without expecting to receive. Only then you could temper your desire and achieve balance of spirit…" He put the bodies of the fishes into a casserole with a lot of tiny bits of vegetables and then he looked at Yan Lin. "How is that garlic?"

"Done, father" Yan Lin answered and passed the peeled garlic to Zhōu.

"You shouldn't be here with me, daughter." Zhōu declared, putting the casserole in the fire, and starting to prepare another set of ingredients for another, totally different dish.

"Are you of the same opinion as mother?" asked Yan Lin, while helping the man to took a basket of onions from the floor and put it over the table. "That I should be studying so I could escape from here?" She smiled at that remark. She knew how her father was going to

"Studying? _STUDYING_?!" Zhōu shouted, and his nasal voice echoed through the kitchens and above the noise produced by the fires and the boiling oil. "The obligation of a youngster it's not studying! You should be out, with friends, or you will end stanching to fish and garlic even before you are your father's age!"

Yan Lin couldn't avoid laughing. In contrast with Yu, Zhōu's plans for his daughter weren't so focused in the future. He focused more in the present, and insisted that Yan passed more time with her friends. He usually said that his daughter should be as free as the wind. If only he knew how close to the truth that was…

"Yan Lin!" the voice of her mother came from outside the kitchens. "Two of your friends are here!"

Yan Lin looked at her father, and the asian man made a gesture with the hand that was holding the knife while with the other he picked an onion. "Go, go. Your friends are here to see you. Make sure that you don't stench!"

"I don't stench, father!" Yan Lin shouted, and run to the entrance.

* * *

"Why do you smell to fish and garlic?" asked a confused Cassidy Chacon while walking through Heatherfield's streets. It was one of those rare days, in which summer has officially ended, but it's still hot. Walking in line were Yan Lin, Cassidy and Nerissa. Yan Lin was dressed quite plainly, with a pair of jeans and a short brown jacket over an orange T-shirt. Cassidy was dressed in a brown skirt and an aquamarine sleeveless shirt, her head covered in cap of a light pink color. Nerissa was wearing her usual attire, consisting of a tracksuit-like jacket and trousers, over which she wore a purple skirt; and except for it all the rest was white. The black haired woman, her long mane moving with each step, was wearing high-heeled boots of the same white tone. Yan Lin always found astonishing how Nerissa could take something banal and make it look spectacular.

"Because I was helping in the kitchens; Cassidy." Yan Lin answered. "It's normal that the stink just glues tome. But, since you just said that…"

Noticing what their friend was going to do, Nerissa and Cassidy separated a little from Yan Lin, just in time of being caught into a current of air created by the asian girl, who used it to clean the stench from herself. "Much better" Yan Lin said and the three of them continued their walk.

"And what does Kandrakar need from us to pull me out of my bed this early?" Cassidy complained.

"Cassidy, it's almost midday." Nerissa informed her friend.

"That's early for me, Rissy" Cassidy answered.

"Rissy?" Yan Lin asked.

"It's a new one" Nerissa said, rolling her eyes and waving her left hand. "She is trying to find one that suits me."

"I have tried with Nissa, Nerie, Nessie..." Cassidy told, while numbering with her fingers. "And now it's Rissy. But I still have doubts..."

"Why can't you call me just Nerissa?" the Keeper of the Hearth asked.

"That's not my style, Rissy." Cassidy stated, folding her arms over her chest, which made Yan Lin to laugh.

Sighing, Nerissa and the other two continued their walk. They had arranged to met Kadma and Halinor at their usual hideout, a cave near the beach, carved deeply in the stone by the strength of the elements and the passing of time. Having a telepathic link with each other really was useful in this kind of situations.

"And do we know why Kandrakar had called for us?" Yan Lin asked.

"No idea." Nerissa opened her jacket a little, showing the glowing pink pendant that was the Heart of Kandrakar, hanging there, between her breasts. "The Heart just started glowing this morning and it hasn't stop to do so since." Nerissa answered. And if Nerissa said that Kandrakar hadn't said anything, then Kandrakar hadn't. The Keeper of the Heart had been the most diligent of them all to accept their unusual and sometimes dangerous new role in the universe. Even if she usually denied it, their friends knew that Nerissa was a total fangirl of everything related to the word magic. She had complete bookshelves full of fantasy books in her room, and the parts of History Class that more interested her were the ones related to mythology or witchcraft. When they were elected as Guardians, Nerissa saw her dreams come true. Every time she had spare time, she would go to Kandrakar and spent hour after hour reading in the Grand Library and speaking with the Oracle or the other sages. She would insist and insist until they teach her the spells that she wanted to learn, even if they were quite dangerous. Reached this point, Himerish intervened, acting as some sort of parental figure for Nerissa and making sure that she didn't blew her or others up.

"Couldn't you put it into your bag or your pocket?" Yan Lin asked her friend, looking at how the jewel in between her boobs bounced with each step.

Nerissa looked at the short haired asian girl. "The Heart is good there." she answered, patting the jewel a pair of times.

"Is the Heart really good there, or you just wanted to show off?" Cassidy teased her friend. Even if not as well endowed as Kadma, it was clear that Nerissa's bosom had developed quite nicely for her being in her fifteens.

A little offended, and blushing slightly, Nerissa just zipped her jacket once again, hiding the Heart and her bust; to Yan Lin's tranquility. Even if they had practically grown together, there was no doubt that Yan Lin was quite modest in comparison with her friends. "You two are just no fun." Cassidy added to this action.

"Changing the subject" Yan Lin said, not wanting to keep talking about how Nerissa's breasts had grown in comparison with hers. "Shouldn't we speed up or something? Halinor and Kadma should be in the cave already."

"I know just the way to get there in an instant." Nerissa said, an enthusiastic smile appearing in her face. "Just get yourselves around me and…"

"Are you sure?" Yan Lin asked her friend. "Because last time I checked, you couldn't do it right."

"Nissa, I don't want to end up in the middle of a volcano or something." Cassidy complained.

"We won't end in a volcano." Nerissa complained and took each one of her friends by the arms. "If we are unlucky, we will end in the middle of the ocean, though."

"Wait, wha-?" Cassidy started to say, but her words were interrupted when Nerissa closed her eyes and concentrated, making the trio to disappear in thin air, enveloped by the green light of teleportation.

* * *

 ** _Shell Beach_**

Shell Beach was one of the most beautiful places in Heatherfield. The almost white sand meeting with the crystalline waters of the sea… it really made a peaceful and cute picture. And in one of the in the side of one of the cliffs that surrounded the beach, there was an overture that leaded to a cave. Inside the cave, the members of what could be known in their future as CHYKN had an improvised 'base of operations'. If Kandrakar called, or they had to met and discuss some Guardian business, they used this cave.

Now, in the cave were only the Guardians of Fire and Earth. The Guardian of Fire, Halinor, her blond her sparkling due to the effects that the sunbeams made on it when they reached her head from the entrance; was walking nervously, her body clad into a simple set of an orange skirt and a dark orange-red top; was walking slowly.

"They are late, Kadma"· the blonde said. "What if something has happened to them?"

"Relax yourself, Halinor" her friend said, she sitting into one of the more comfortable rocks of the cave. "The worst that could happen would be that Nerissa changes their hair color to green, or something."

Kadma always had been the tallest of the group, her dark skin and body clad into a long, blue skirt and a sleeveless shirt of a green tone. Truly, she was the only other member of the group aside from Nerissa that could be considered beautiful into a 'jaw-dropping' way. As Cassidy had put it, Nerissa had more of an 'ethereal beauty', like a beautiful sculpture of glass you don't want to touch because you know it's going to break, while Kadma had a 'wilder beauty': the kind of beauty that relates to an unexplored jungle that you want to venture in, even if you know that she will crush you. Truly befitting for the Guardian of Earth.

As the long-haired girl tried to calm her friend down; a green light flashed inside the cave and Yan Lin, Cassidy and Nerissa fell from a few meters, in that same order… directly over Kadma. "Ouch!" someone shouted, not being clear who; probably all of them.

"Haha!" a triumphant laughter fled from Nerissa's mouth. "I knew that I could do it! Now, a little more practice, and I will be able to teleport people and made them land standing… why are you all under me?"

Cassidy and Yan Lin answered with a groan, but Kadma floundered under the other three. "Get off of me!" yelled the Earth Guardian, and Nerissa, Cassidy and Yan Lin get to their feet.

"Sorry" Nerissa apologized. "I still can't land in my feet."

"Agh…" complained Kadma, standing up and dusting off her clothes. Having control over dirt and debris, this wasn't very hard, but it was annoying to begin with.

"See?" Halinor pointed. "Something bad."

Rolling her eyes, Kadma raised her arms and let them fall at her sides in an annoyance gesture. "Whatever. Nerissa, when you are ready, do the magic. I have to come back home early so I can study."

Frowning a little over her friend's almost authoritarian demand; Nerissa pulled out the Heart from under her jacket, and holding the jewel in front of her, she pronounced what she liked to think of as 'magic words'.

 _Guardians Unite!_

The sensation was always so… so… _indescribable_. The five energy streams surged from the Heart, and as they touched all the girls till the last one, fittingly, in their hearts; each girl felt how the energy enveloped them, how their clothes faded away, how they naked bodies changed while in a fetal position; as if the Heart made wombs for each one of them and rebirth them as its bearers. Rebirth them as fluid as a river, as burning as a volcano, as indomitable as a hurricane, as firm as a mountain and as powerful as a lightning.

Water!

Fire!

Air!

Earth!

Quintessence!

And so, where the five girls had once stood; were now five winged women clad in pink and green. These were the previous generation of Guardians, the former protectors of the universe that guarded the infinite dimensions before WITCH. Of course, sans the diplomatic missions in order to end some conflict peacefully or the not so unusual hunts of monsters or arrest of power-hungry madmen; this was a peaceful time. So when Nerissa pointed the Heart and opened a fold to Kandrakar using it, none of them were expecting to be embarked in a dangerous mission that could put their lives in risk. Oh, how wrong they were...

* * *

 ** _Kandrakar. Center of Infinity_**

Walking up the stairs that headed to the entrance of the Fortress of Light, Alfor saw the five human women that composed the quintet that the Guardians always were. Lady Cassidy's and Lady Halinor's attire were rather simple; not so different than anything that they could wear in Earth; the standard uniform for any Guardian composed of one piece of pink and one piece of green. Lady Kadma's looked much more elegant; with a long, waving skirt in pink that made her look like she was a woman of high standing, or even royalty, and a top matching said skirt's color. Lady Yan Lin's was much more modest. In fact, instead of looking like an occidental dress or clothing, her clothes reminded Alfor of one of those attires from her homeland, made in order to accommodate the body to a fighting instance. As for Lady Nerissa, the pink part of her clothing elongated itself until it covered her whole body. It drove clear inspiration from the robes that the witches of Earth wore in folklore. Alfor had investigated a little about the creatures that Earthlings had ended calling witches. And albeit a lot of them were just humans with magic potential, the figures (or Matriarchs, as they were called) around whom the witches' Sabbaths gathered… they were called Furies, and they weren't pretty. They looked like wrinkled, almost dried old women, their nails long and strong enough to crush a head, their noses large as they were peaks of crows; and feathery wings coming from the hunched backs. So it was better if Nerissa's image of a witch was of a sorceress and not a real 'witch'.

"Greetings, young Guardians" Alfor welcomed them. "Please, if you could follow me inside the Fortress; the Oracle is waiting for you." The quintet followed the small sage, as they always did. After all, Alfor was always the one to receive them at the entrance. None of them didn't know if it was done out of pleasure of it was done out of duty; but they had getting accustomed to it with time.

For one year they had been the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions, and many times they had come and gone from Kandrakar. However, the marvelous sight of the Fortress of Light still amazed each one of the girls. The brilliant and immaculate building that made even Versailles look like a small, ramshackle old castle in comparison. The Fortress raised itself proud above the whitest of clouds and pierced directed to the always brilliant and always blue skies of Kandrakar. The insides of the Fortress weren't small feat either. Every time that the girls visited it Halinor, ever so obsessed with architecture, always pointed out a new detail that none of her friends knew about.

As always, Oracle Himerish was waiting in the meeting chamber of the Council of Light; Tibor at his side and the other sages just talking in whisper with each other, all of them scattered through the chamber. As the five girls entered the room and approached, some of the whispers hushed and some others increased in both intensity and speed. But in the end, all of them faded when the oracle opened his mouth, his sere expression increased by the light that seemed to emanate out of the Fortress' own walls.

"Guardians of the Infinity Dimensions" the Oracle said, both as a greeting and as an announcement to the Council. "Thank you for coming so fast, even if I know that your lives are busy. As you may suppose by now, I have a task for all of you."

"Well, what is it?" Cassidy asked a little bit more enthusiastically than the Council was accustomed to, making some sages frown at her. ""We are going to make an evil wizard to swallow his spells? Maybe we are going to fight a dragon?!"

"Dragons have been extinct for millennia" Tibor said. "Or at least, real dragons. I don't know what kind of wyverns, great ice-worms or leviathans populate the Known Worlds in this era…"

"Well, Oracle?" it was Nerissa's voice. "What's the mission?"

Himerish looked at his protégé. He was very proud of her progress and eagerness to prove herself; but that could be dangerous. Fortunately, her good friends kept her aware of that fact. He too had been an ambitious man in the past, living only to his own desire for battle, not caring for everything else. And how good had it been to have Endarno at his side, to have a real friend with him that made him realize his failures. As long as her friends stayed with her, Nerissa would be safe.

But it was enough of thinking about 'what ifs' and looking back into the distant pass. Moving his hand, he made a signal to Tibor, and the old sage answered with a polite bow and the start of a projection of an image in the air. As the projection materialized, Himerish spoke only a sentence; but how strongly he delivered it.

"This, Guardians" he said as the image finally completed itself. It depicted something very similar to a Naga, only instead of slimy scales; it had stone-like ones. Its arms were long and thin, but it was clear that there was muscle inn there; and they ended in claws with only three fingers. Its head was bald and with pointy ears, and its mouth was circular, with three lines of teeth inside. "Is a _Ragorlang_."

Yan Lin had seen many scary beings in his short life as a Guardian, but as they could be scary under presumption of attack, they could also be beautiful. Take the Banshees of Arkhanta, or Meridian's shapeshifters, who usually had an incredibly attractive human form. But this thing was just disturbing…

"A Ragor-what?" Kadma asked, disturbed by the thing too.

"Soooo many teeth, grandma…" Cassidy said, shivering a little. Halinor remained silent, her stomach a little dizzy over the horrendous sight of the thing.

Nerissa titled her head and looked curiously at the creature, like a scientist analyzing a strange and bizarre animal brought from the depths of the ocean.

"A Ragorlang" the Oracle explained, answering Kadma's question. "Is a creature of the Ancient Past, a rare specimen even when they were many. In rare occasions they could be seen, and if you saw one, you usually didn't tell anybody. Ragorlang were quite the voracious creatures, predating in any form of energy they found. Many of the siphoning spells that are detailed in the most dark and tainted grimmoires and spellbooks were based in this ability." Himerish made a pause. "With the pass of time, the Ragorlang found their preferred meal in the energy contained within a living body, and they started to absorb it, hiding in the shadows of their victims and surprising them from behind. Due to their dangerous and vicious nature, Kandrakar exterminated them long ago."

"I take that it didn't go as well as you thought" Cassidy pointed out.

Himerish shook his head sadly. "No Cassidy, it didn't. It seems that some of them survived and now they have started to appear and devour innocents' energy again. For now, their presence is small, but as they gather more energy, they will need more. And so they will hunt for more, and the corpses of the innocent will escalate in numbers." Himerish looked at them. "That's why you have been called. It's the duty of the Guardians of Kandrakar to slay evil and bring peace."

"So… we have to… kill this (or those) things?" Halinor asked, pointing to the now slowly fading image of the monster.

"Yes" Himerish asked. "And it's of great importance that you do that as soon as possible. If left unchecked, the Ragorlang could suppose a great danger for the world they are in."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Cassidy asked, stretching herself. "Which world are we going in today?"

"Earth" Himerish answered.

The expressions in the girls' faces just changed to ones of worry. "Our world?" asked a shocked Kadma. "Wait, these things aren't in Heatherfield, aren't they?"

Yan Lin's heart skipped a beat. If those things touched her parents…

"No, they aren't in your home." Himerish stated, calming the girls. "They are in a place called Winchester, in Britanni- England." The Oracle corrected himself in the last moment. "Now that you have your mission, is tie to go. But be wary of my words. Ragorlang aren't capable of reasoning or compassion. They won't stop until they have eaten you."

The five girls looked at each other. Sighing, Nerissa took the Heart in her palm and prepared to fold immediately. The other four girls gathered around her.

"Well" Cassidy said before leaving. "You always wanted to see that cathedral first hand didn't you, Hal?" And as they faded away, the answer of the blonde to the ginger girl couldn't be hear.

And the Council fell into whispers again.

* * *

 ** _Winchester_**

Edward Folkner had a problem.

The problem wasn't his average body, no. That would have been narcissistic. The problem wasn't his light astigmatism who forced him to wear round, thin glasses and accommodate them continuously over his nose. No, that would have been stupid; everyone must accept their weaknesses.

No, Edward Folkner's problem was time. His time was running out. Not because of age, he had recently reached forty-five; but because of one word. One simple word.

 _Cancer_.

In one of the most mundane of medical inspections, the doctors had detected a tumor in his brain. It was too much extended to be treatable with the technology they could dispose of in that time, so it was clear that, more sooner than later, there was only one end. _Death_.

But Folkner didn't want to die. Well, who really does? But he wasn't motivated by some stupid, religious or metaphysical reason. He wasn't worried about what was there after death, but about what he would miss among the living. There was still so much more to see, much more people to talk with... he wasn't asking for immortality, he was asking just for more time. Fortunately, what human science couldn't give him, sorcery could. For you see, Edward Folkner was a wizard. A cultured man, versed in the Forbidden Arts. He considered himself one of the best sorcerers out there. Why? If you went to Kandrakar and asked for Edward Folkner, no one would be able to answer. For Folkner, the best wizards, especially the ones that dwelled in the Forbidden Arts, weren't the ones with more power or spells; but the ones able to lie low, and use that very same magic to attain success in live. It wasn't about conquering the world or living forever, but about maintaining control over your own little world and living long enough to enjoy life at its fullest.

Edward, biology as his main profession and hobby apart from magic, had discovered the solution to his problem into a thing that could only be described as a magic serum; which main ingredient was the dehydrated blood of an old corpse that he had found beneath Cardiff, long ago, taking with him a part of the body. He had discovered that it had belonged to a creature called Ragorlang, creatures that absorbed energy in order to survive. And right now, the thing he needed the most was energy.

The process was being quite successful until now. If a human body was injected with the substance, the subject would shift into a Ragorlang. In order to maintain the creatures under control, Folkner put a spell in their minds when they were human and then injected them with the serum. Then they shifted into the creature and Folkner would send them into the streets of Winchester, always at night.

When they returned, Folkner made all the energy that they had gathered to be delivered inside an enchanted box designed to contain the amount of energy. Unfortunately, he had been using malnourished beggars for this task... and they didn't end very well most of the times. Their bodies couldn't maintain themselves after releasing the consumed energy, and this made them to return to their previous human forms... usually with their skin and muscles _dissolving_ into a purple mass of goo, screeching in pain until they died shortly after that; which left Folkner with a pile of goo to wash from the floor and a new Ragorlang to create. Note to self: don't use your own house, with its new, clean carpet as the place to meet with your monstrous servant. He needed _young blood_...

And the young blood appeared in the form of Tecla Ibsen. The young woman had come to him in order to make a pair of questions about some technicality of the biology of the wildlife that had populated Winchester in the Middle Ages. After seeing her for the first time, he knew that this was the one he needed. Inviting the young, married lady to his house, he passed her some documents regarding the matter of her questions and as she marveled herself over his titles, they chatted about her husband's work as a therapist (he had apparently started an small clinic in the city, mostly dedicated to counseling; Folkner supposed it was a good thing); and for some odd reason she threw riddles again and again at him; he prepared himself. Good thing about the power maniacs, they didn't have to bother with complicated enchantments or formulas.

"Mrs. Ibsen?" Folkner spoke. His voice sounded perfectly British, too much for a normal person. If Tecla had been an expert in language she would have known that it was clearly a made up accent, too good and worked to be real. Lamentably, she was an expert in History. And in the moment she looked at him, he casted the spell. After a few minutes, Folkner adjusted his glasses and looked at her. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes" answered Tecla, her voice sounding mechanical; her eyes lacking light, or any emotion; lacking the spark that marks people as free, as alive. Her consciousness reduced to the one of a computer. Take orders, undertake those orders.

"Good" Folkner said. He then went to a little fridge in his kitchen. In said fridge's refrigerator, there was a secret compartment in which Folkner guarded the vials with the serum. Taking one vial, he went back to Tecla. "Mrs. Ibsen" said the man. The accent had been dropped. Now his English sounded like something foreign, and his voice was cold and apathetic. "Take this" he said, handling the vial to her. "Wait until the sun sets and inject yourself with it. Then gather as much energy as you can, and meet with me, at dawn, in this address." He handed a little paper to her. After she had memorized it, he ignited the paper with a simple snap of his fingers, and let the flames to consume it.

The woman bowed, a mechanical "Yes" leaving her lips before she went out. Folkner went to his bedroom and looked at the elaborated box that held the energy designated to save his life. He hoped that the variations he had introduced in the formula of the serum, along with Mrs. Ibsen's good physical condition were enough to provide a Ragorlang who could operate in more than two missions. He put his hand over the box and checked the amount of energy inside it. "Only a few more lives…"

* * *

 ** _The Guardians_**

"Do you think that these 'astral drops' will be enough to made people at home not worry about us?" Yan Lin's voice was heard among the quintet.

"Of course" Nerissa answered. "We have used them before, remember? And they did a very good job."

"But never for so long," the chinese girl complained "and we weren't in the other side of the ocean."

"Relax yourself Yan. It will be okay." Nerissa tried to calm her friend. Then she directed to the others. "Has anyone noticed something weird or suspicious?"

Not knowing anything about Folkner's plan and how it played in their mission, the Guardians had already arrived at Winchester, and were now currently walking through the streets, the five all together and close; in their human forms.

"Well, this place seems... normal" Kadma commented, while she and her friends continued their walk. Normal people, normal houses, normal cars... normal. "It doesn't seem to have anything remarkable. Just normal."

"I will go with boring" Cassidy commented, looking at everyone the group crossed. "I thought that what they say about British people being boring was an exaggeration, but oh boy!"

"Cassidy!" Nerissa scolded her friend. "We are in a mission!" the green eyed Guardian said in a manner that only her friends could hear. "Behave yourself."

"Yes mom..." Cassidy complained and mocked at the same time.

Halinor put a little notebook full of architectonical trivia from the houses of the town back in her pocket. "They don't seem bored to me..."

Yan Lin looked at the people in the streets. There roughly were any that walked alone. There were in pairs, trios or even high numbered groups. And their faces were tereibly serious and wary. Even when they were talking or laughing, their eyes seemed to move to every corner they passed by. Looking for danger.

"They are afraid" the chinese girl commented. "The Oracle said that these Ragorlang feed on people's energy. You don't think that...?"

Nerissa looked around, until her eyes spotted a pub with enough people inside it. "There is only one way to find out. Cassidy?"

"Yeah?" the Water Guardian asked.

"Do you keep those hypnotism powers in good shape?" Nerissa asked.

Cassidy smirked and, clasping her hands, she took the lead of the group and headed to the pub. "Okay, lets' do some magic."

* * *

 ** _Afternoon_**

Now they had information. Though neither Yan Lin nor Kadma had enjoyed the sight of their friend making a weird combination of hypnotism and flirting in order to gain said information from men and women that practically doubled (or even triplicate) her age, they have to admit that it had been useful. But it being useful didn't mean that it wasn't disturbing.

People were dying, and not in the friendliest or cleanest of manners. Apparently, and this was something that none of the Guardians knew, when someone is stripped of the energy that flows within the body and that keeps a person living, said person will end with the appearance of a dried up mummy. Night by night since two weeks ago, at least one victim would be found, which prompted the townsfolk to think that it was a serial killer at first. But then they saw an image of one of the bodies, and the paranoid rumors started. Te most popular one was that there were vampires out in the city, draining people of their souls. Of course, the girls knew that the things responsible were the Ragorlang, but even with the ridiculous and surprisingly creative rumors that the girls had heard, they doubted that anyone could believe them. The fact that these creatures had _killed_ , and even more, _killed so many_ in such a way… They had to stop these beings. Fortunately, their little 'hypnotism session' had ended with a plus to the general information. Now they had a name, courtesy of a police officer that Cassidy had brainwashed into telling them what he knew. Apparently, there was a man that went to the police station day by day, pleading the policemen to attend his wife's disappearance case. But they didn't pay him any attention. After all, if someone disappeared these days, it was often believed that said person was already dead. So the police didn't bother with any hard or long investigation. They were more interested into getting the killer (or killers) behind bars.

But for the Guardians, the man was enough. After all, they needed all the information possible in order to haunt the Ragorlang, and if they could find and save the woman before it was too late, then better. After all, it was the duty of every Guardian to protect the innocent that couldn't protect themselves.

The name of the man… was Karl Ibsen. And now the five girls stood in front of his house; a beautiful piece of architecture from the previous century's end. Knocking at Ibsen's door, the five Guardians waited patiently for the answer to come. After a few minutes, they noted movement behind the door, and how someone stopped merely at inches from the gate, probably looking at them from the peephole.

The door opened slowly, revealing a man in his twenties behind it. His head was adorned by a messy amount of light-brown hair and his face sported an equally messed beard. He had huge and very bad looking eye bags, and he smelled quite bad. In fact, the whole interior of the house was reeking bad odor. It was clear that the man hadn't slept or cleaned himself since his wife's disappearance. He seemed pretty malnourished, and Yan Lin could hear his stomach making the strangest sounds that she had ever heard a stomach make. Maybe he had forgot to eat in his constant insistence to the city's authorities to search for his wife.

The theory of the Air Guardian about him not sleeping enough seemed pretty plausible, because in the moment he opened the door, he looked at them, and at first he didn't seem surprised in the slightest that one brunette, one redhead, one blonde, an chinese girl and a dark skinned girl were standing at his door.

"Mr. Ibsen? Karl Ibsen?" Nerissa asked, putting her best effort in using her softest and sweetest tone.

The man looked at her. He titled his head a little, not very sure if he had heard his name or not. He decided that he had heard right, and decided that, whatever this was, it wasn't of his interest. "Listen, I don't know what do you sell, or for what kind of campaign or school you do it; but I don't want it." Karl said, starting to close the door. "I don't have time for this."

But then Cassidy stepped in. "Please, Mr. Ibsen" she said, her tone much more sweet than Nerissa's. The quintet's leader had the best of intentions, but she didn't quite understand how to behave in a kindly way. "We are not here to disturb you or sell something to you. We want to speak about your wife."

That seemed to gain Karl's full attention. "Tecla?" he said, as his eyes brightened, regaining some life in them.

"Yes" the Water Guardian answered, and she pushed the door to open again. "We… know something in regards to her situation. We can't tell you too much, but… If you help us, you will know what we do. Please, Mr. Ibsen, let us in."

Something passed over Karl's face, a slight change in his expression before it returned to what it was before. "Sure" he answered "Please, enter."

As the five girls started to enter in the house, Yan Lin grabbed Cassidy by her shoulder. "Did you just use your powers on him?"

"C'mon, Yan; he wasn't going to let us inside." Cassidy justified herself. "Besides, it's not like I ordered him to kill himself or something."

"She is right, you know" Nerissa whispered, appearing behind her asian friend. "It can't hurt to use it for something like this. We are trying to save his wife from an ancient evil, not to use him as a puppet."

Yan Lin grumbled a little, but then she entered the house with the others. When doing so, she noticed how Halinor and Kadma had the same gesture in their faces as when someone eats a raw lemon. After a few seconds, Yan Lin noticed why, or rather she _smelled_ it.

The bad odor that poured from the door was nothing compared with the intense stench that permeated the insides of the building. It wasn't just that Karl had stopped wasn't himself. He had also stopped cleaning his house and taking the trash out. If she could use her powers right now, she would blow a current of fresh air just so she and the others could breathe freely. Mr. Ibsen didn't seem to notice the stench. Maybe he smelled so bad that his own bad odor acted as a countermeasure to the house's; making him not to notice. The chinese teen paused for a moment. That had been clearly a cruel thought.

Once all five of them inside, Karl Ibsen guided them to the living room; where all of them could appreciate a pair of thick blankets over the couch, and an ashtray full of cigarette butts and died ash in a table in front of the sofa, just at the side of the television controller. Nerissa's expression softened, showing sadness; for a mind like hers, it was clear that the poor man had been sleeping on the couch night after night, watching the TV in hopes that some new about his wife appeared in the screen.

The dark haired teenager clenched her fist, and she let a current of Quintessence to run over her whole body. She noted the Heart beating with unlimited energy against her bare chest. Those monsters… how dared they to ruin so many lives?!

"You said…" they all heard Mr. Ibsen. "You said that you know about Tecla. Please, tell me, is she still alive?"

"Mr. Ibsen" said then Halinor. Everyone knew what she was going to say, but they knew that she was the only one with enough tact to deliver the news and not sound condescending. "The… culprits of these murders, they don't hold the people they kill hostage. You could considerer them as nothing but animals. But listen, if your wife was really dead, then it could have appeared in the news."

"You are telling me she isn't dead?" Karl asked. The five girls saw how sparks formed in his eyes, the clear reflection of light produced by eyes full of tears that refuse to fall. "Then where is she?!"

"We don't know" Nerissa intervened. She walked until she was looking Karl eye to eye. "But I… _we_ promise you, that we will find her and we will return her so you can see her again." Nerissa looked at how his face regained some color after that thought. "But we need help. Your wife is the only thing that we had to trail the murderers. So, if you could tell us…"

"Folkner" he said "she was going to visit a man named Folkner. She wanted to ask him about something about one of her investigations… I don't know much more."

"It's enough" Nerissa said, smiling. "We will find her, I swear. It will be our main priority."

The five girls started to leave. Karl didn't know why, but he had believed them. "Wa-wait!" he shouted. "Who… just who are you?" the man asked.

"We are just people" Nerissa answered as she was the only one left to exit the house. "Trying to do what is best for everyone else." She sentenced as the door closed, leaving a hopeful man behind it.

Outside the house, the sun was starting to set. It would be night very soon, and all of them knew what that meant.

"Well, we either go to see this Folkner guy, or we start hunting the monsters" Kadma stated. "What do we do first?"

Nerissa looked at the sky; the sun and its light were almost completely gone. They didn't have time. "The Ragorlang are the priority. We will find Mrs. Ibsen eventually, but… just not tonight."

"But you just said to that man…" Halinor complained.

"I know what I said, Halinor" Nerissa stated. It wasn't a harsh tone, but it was authoritative; even more than Kadma's usual tone. "But we need to focus in what's more important, and I think that Kandrakar's orders are to destroy these monsters. Lets' go. Guardians Unite!"

As Nerissa said those words, a pink glow enveloped all of them, and in an instant they were in their Guardian forms. Silently, they took fly and started to scam the city from the skies. Trailing behind the main group, Kadma approached Halinor. "You know that she didn't want to shout at you, right?"

Halinor nodded. "I know, it's just… he looked so devastated, Kadma. I just want to help. I need to help."

"And you think that Nerissa doesn't?" the dark skinned woman asked the blonde. "She feels the same. But she has to think about our priorities. What's best; a woman, or a city?"

"A city, I suppose…" Halinor accepted. "But she shouldn't be the one to hold that kind of weight over her shoulders. I don't understand why she doesn't complain."

Kadma shook her head. "She won't complain; never. Her pride as leader won't allow that. Even if she is suffering, she will put her best smile in her face, calm her mind and direct us as strongly as she always does."

"How can you know that?" Halinor asked.

Kadma smiled to her closest friend among the five. "Because I'm like that too."

* * *

 ** _Night in Winchester_**

If this was another occasion, the streets of this city would be full of curious tourists that sneak in pubs in order to take the binge of their lives; but tonight wasn't that night. Due to the danger that the night provided to the people, everyone was ordered to stay in their houses. Of course, there were people that thought that all of this was an exaggeration. There will always be people that think that, no matter the amount of corpses in front of their faces, all is an exaggeration. Poor, idiotic fools…

In tonight's play, the paper of the fools was taken by a group of three, careless men. Their names weren't important. Their thoughts or words weren't important. Their stories, their families, friends or lovers weren't important. The only thing that was important was the energy.

And she knew it.

"Hey, look at that!" one of the three men yelled, pointing to a figure in the night. "We found ourselves a real hottie!"

In front of them, covered by the shadows, the trio of men witnessed the form of Tecla Ibsen, looking at them like an owl watch a rat, prepared to descend and eat it. Of course, the trio of fools wasn't able to interpret that look. According to their role, none of the three were able to notice the vial and syringe full of serum that Tecla directed to her neck, none of them noticed how she injected herself with said serum, until the vial was empty. None of them noticed… until Tecla was forcing to kneel due to the pain. Magical or not, the serum was changing her very own physiology in a molecular level; and that was painful. Brainwashed or not, she still felt how her skin started to dissolve, letting place to the purple, stone-like skin of a Ragorlang. Her legs' bones started to put the two lower extremities together, and she felt how the muscles and skin in them bounded together, making her legs disappear, letting only a elongating tail instead. She felt how her arms' bones extended, how four of her fingers fused in a way very similar to her legs, leaving hands with three purple fingers instead of her usual five. Her torso expanded, and she noted how her head was losing its hair at extremely high speed. The worst part was the teeth. The teeth didn't fell. But she noted how they sharpened, and how other two lines appeared behind her original line.

She didn't scream, the spell over her mind won't let her to do so. But inside, in the corners of her soul; Tecla Ibsen suffered, suffered like no one before, as the serum changed her body and left it unrecognizable; and the instincts of the creature overwrote her own thoughts. And as the Ragorlang took over and Tecla Ibsen faded to a lumber within herself; the creature looked at the three men, only one thought in mind.

 _I need energy_

* * *

The Guardians had been flying in patrol over Winchester for almost three hours, and they had found nothing. They had thought that founding a giant monster would be easy, but of course the Ragorlang could have been spotted sooner if they weren't discreet. After all, the Oracle had said that they were predators. Nerissa cursed internally; they needed something! A clue, a signal! A scream cut the otherwise silent and calm night. The black haired woman cursed internally again. She wasn't asking for that kind of signal.

"Did you hear that?" Cassidy asked the other four.

"Sounded like someone in danger" Nerissa said "Yan Lin, can you scan the air and detect the origin of the sound?"

"On it!" shouted the chinese girl, closing her eyes, and letting the sound waves that rar through the air to come at her. She heard the scream, and in minutes, she was able to locate its exact position. "Here!" she said, and she flew ito a direction, the other four following closely.

A couple of streets from their original position, the five girls landed in the rooftop of a house and looked down at the street. And there it was, towering over two lifeless bodies, finishing with a third one as the energy poured from the screaming man to its mouth; his skin wrinkling and his mass decreasing. No wonder why the people thought that it were vampires. The resulting thing after being siphoned of life really looked like a body that had been sucked out of blood.

All the girls had thought that the creature that the Oracle had sown them was disturbing. But seeing it in action made them rethink it. The Ragorlang wasn't disturbing; it was nauseating. The sounds it made, the way it moved... how its tail flipped in extasis as the creature dried its victim. Yan Lin was so glad that she and her friends had only eaten a sandwich in the pub...

"Okay, we have the element of surprise." Nerissa stated. "Kadma, you take the lead, grab it with those vines of yours. Cassidy, I need you to bath it in water so I can electrocute it. Then, Halinor and Yan Lin, I want you to create a tornado of flames and take it down. Understood?"

"Understood." the others said.

"Then, go!" Nerissa yelled, and at her command Kadma took the lead as ordered; making vines to sprout of the ground, starting to envelop the monster with them. The Ragorlang didn't notice until it was too late; too focused in finishing its meal. When it finally turned to the Guardians, the only part of its body that it could move was its head.

A Ragorlang doesn't see in colors or forms, like a human, for example. A Ragorlang can only see in energy; The more of it an organism has, the shinier it will be in the eyes of the Ragorlang. And, oh how they shined! Especially one of them; the one that was holding… something. The creature didn't know what it was, but it seemed to contain an infinite amount of energy! And the other four that had showed with that one weren't a small feat, either. The Ragorlang pondered its options. It had gathered enough energy for the master, but the sun wouldn't be up for a few more hours, and a little bit more of energy couldn't do any harm.

Meanwhile, Cassidy had stuck to the plan, and was now charging a potent blast of water that she shot to the creature, bathing it in the liquid. If Kadma's vines weren't wrapping it, the Ragorlang could have ended in the other side of the street and incrust itself in one of the habited houses. Nerissa really was a good strategist.

Of course, the strategy went straight to hell when Nerissa herself shot a stream of Quintessence at the creature and, instead of electrocuting it, the blast cursed through its body and went into its mouth. And then the creature grow larger, large enough that, flexing its muscles, it broke free from Kadma's vines.

"What the-?!" exclaimed the Earth Guardian.

"Oh oh" Cassidy said. "Remember how these things fed on energy?"

Nerissa's face lighted in terror. There was no form of energy in the universe as strong or pure as Quintessence. And the Ragorlang fed up in energy. How could she be so stupid?! Wait, if the Ragorlang fed up in energy, any kind of energy…

"Halinor, Yan Lin, no!" the Keeper of the Heart shouted, but it was too late. Just as she had ordered, the Fire and Air Guardians executed a perfect combined attack. But fire means heat, and thus calorific energy. And the elongated flames were consumed by the creature too, and it grew even larger.

Now the size of a small house, the Ragorlang roared at them. That had been an amazing amount of energy! And its instincts knew that there was more where that one had come from. So it charged, wanting to provoke the girls into an attack again. Unfortunately for it, Nerissa Crossnic wasn't the type of person to commit the same mistakes two times in a row.

"Fall back!" Nerissa directed her teammates. "Halinor, with me in the defense! Kadma, Yan Lin, Cassidy; you three in the offense!" she started to fly away. "We have to bring it out of the residential area!"

But a Ragorlang, even if a creature of instincts, wasn't stupid. The monster saw through the obvious diversion and tried to strike one of the houses with its tail. Noticing this, Kadma was fast enough to stop the attack by raising a wall of stone in its way using the pavement.

As the five girls landed in front of the thing, the Ragorlang looked at them, its tail flipping and twirling as if it was playing with the quintet. It then growled, and it sounded like a laugh. Was that thing mocking them?

"Kadma, trap it!" Nerissa ordered, and Kadma started to create a circular formation of walls in order to imprison the creature. However, before Cassidy could proceed to drown it in water or Yan Lin to slice it with sharp blades of air, the creature entered (or more appropriately melted) in its own shadow.

"What the-?" Kadma muttered.

Yan Lin remembered what the Oracle had said. "Remember that Ragorlang can attack from the shadows!"

That got Nerissa an idea. "Halinor, project our shadows as much as you can!"

In clue, Halinor gathered all the flames she could conjure and projected a miniature version of a sun behind them all. Their shadows grew in the night, and now they were enormous, projected in front of them as gigantic reflections of the Guardians.

"Kadma" Nerissa whispered. "Keep your telekinesis ready."

The Earth Guardian nodded, and waited into a fighting position. Seconds passed and nothing happened. Minutes passed, and nothing happened.

"Wait..." Nerissa said. Movement started to be noted in their shadows, as if the creature was deciding which one use to emerge.

"Be ready..." their leader said again, as the movement started to focus more into her shadow.

Then the movement stopped, and Nerissa held her breath. The Ragorlang jumped from her shadow straight to her. "NOW!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, and Kadma held the beast telekinetically in the air.

"Nerissa, this thing weights a ton!" the Earth Guardian complained, the great effort put into holding the raging massive monster clearly showing in her constrained face and the sweat dropping from it.

"Hit it with everything you got!" Nerissa yelled.

In cue, Cassidy and Yan Lin unleashed their powers as strong as they could, and as the powerful streams of air and water, looking like an enraged river and a tornado respectively. The two attacks struck the creature and send it flying away from the residence area. The five Guardians looked how the creature was launched into the night sky and landed badly with a sonorous impact far away.

"Yeah! Teamwork!" Cassidy exclaimed while she and Yan Lin stood side by side. "High five, Yan!" and so they did.

"Good work, everyone." Nerissa complimented. "But we have to go after it before it escapes."

"Or worse..." muttered Halinor as the five of them took flight and went into the direction the Ragorlang had been thrown.

Of course, their little exchanging of blows had gathered attention. From the windows of the houses, curious, impressed and even terrorized eyes were watching the development of the fight. Due to the dark of the night, none of them knew exactly how the fighters looked like; but they knew that they had wings and they were flying; and also fighting some kind of horror.

And so, while some citizens' minds started to feel even more terrorized than before; some others thought that they had seen angels fighting a demon; and so, much of them returned to their beds with a renewed faith.

As for the Ragorlang, the fall hadn't been pleasant for the creature. It had to use all the energy gathered from the absorption of the fire to heal itself, and so it had grew smaller in comparison with before. A part of its mind, possibly the one where Tecla's consciousness remained conscious and provided with some kind of personality trait aside from 'hungry'; lamented that kinetic energy wasn't included between the types of energy that Ragorlang could consume.

The creature raised its head and looked around. It saw the five shiny ones approaching its position. What to do… what to do… It had enough energy for the master; much more than needed thanks to one of the shiny ones. Ugh… escape. Escape seemed like the best option. But as the creature was going to melt into another shadow (this one casted by a building) a car smashed itself against its body, pushing the Ragorlang away from the shadow and the escape.

Then another three cars appeared and acted as a barrier between the Ragorlang and the shadow of the building. Narrowing its eyes, the creature tried to find some trail of energy inside the machines, and it saw how they had a little sparkle inside them, as if they were… alive? That was just ridiculous! Even a Ragorlang knew that machines didn't have a spark of life!

"Hey, you! Ugly face!" shouted a voice. Turning around, the Ragorlang looked up and saw the five shiny ones, the brightest of them all pointing at it.

"I may not be able to shot you with my power!" Nerissa stated. "But if you think that you are going to escape just because of that, you are really wrong!" Nerissa pointed to the Ragorlang. "Cassidy, Yan Lin! Bury that thing on ice!"

The two Guardians did as said; and mixing their elements they shot a freezing beam to the Ragorlang, trapping it in a great block of ice. The Ragorlang was still conscious and, still inside of the block, it flexed its muscles like it had done to break free of Kadma's vines. This time, however, its body had to compensate for the injuries derivated of being frozen at such low temperatures, and it used a little of the energy that had in storage to do so; decreasing in stature several meters.

"Did-?" Cassidy asked. "Did that thing grew smaller all of a sudden?"

"The energy!" Halinor shouted. "It's using the energy that it got from us to heal itself, but it's losing it!"

"So if we keep hitting it, it will run out of energy? Like a battery?" Kadma asked.

"I suppose." Halinor shrugged.

Kadma's lips curved into a smile. "Well, I'm the best for that."

"Wait, Kadma! Don't act by yourself!" Nerissa yelled, but it was too late.

Smiling in both a prideful and cocky manner, Kadma flew straight to the ground, and in the moment of landing into it, she caused an earthquake by punching the ground. The earthquake shattered the ground forming a crack in it; and the expansive wave, and also the flying rocks derived from the quake impacted right into the Ragorlang, harming it.

As its wounds regenerated and its mass decreased, the creature measured the amount of energy inside it again. There was still enough energy in storage from the brightest shiny one. But if things kept going like this, its body would burnt out that amount of energy and then use the one that it had gathered from the humans. That one was for the master and the master alone! But no, wait a second… there was another amount of energy near!

In a fast movement, the Ragorlang took one of the cars with its claws and absorbed the spark of Quintessence inside of it that had brought the vehicle to life. It wasn't so much, only making the creature to grown one messy meter; but it was enough to have the sufficient strength to throw the vehicle in the air, directly to the Guardians.

Not seeing the attack coming, the girls dodged it by the skin of their feet. All of them except Cassidy, who had the bad luck of getting in the way of one of the doors of the car, which opened in mid air and hit her, sending her body to the ground.

Cassidy!" Nerissa shouted, and went directly in her friend's help, moving fast enough to catch her in her arms before she hit the ground. "Don't worry, I got you. I got you."

Cassidy touched her forehead, the effects of her guardian physiology taking fast care of healing the hit. "Oh, my knight in pink armor. Thanks Rissy!" she said, landing a kiss in the black haired girl's cheek.

Taking advantage of the shiny ones' lack of attention, the Ragorlang jumped straight into the crack and melted into one of the shadows that were inside it, finally escaping.

Knowing that there was no more battle to be fought, they reunited in the ground. As Nerissa put Cassidy in her feet again, she directed herself to Kadma. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" the leader of the group shouted at her, while pointing her index at the dark skinned woman's face. "I told you to wait!"

"That thing was going to escape! In fact, it has escaped!" Kadma yelled back. "What was I supposed to do?!"

"Wait for MY INSTRUCTIONS!" Nerissa yelled again. "And the only reason it had escaped, is thanks to your freaking earthquake!"

"Well, if Miss ' _I'm such a brilliant strategist_ ' have thought of something better than freezing it or throwing cars at it…!"

"Why you arrogant…!" Nerissa started to say as a current of Quintessence ran through her body and made her hair spiky.

"Oh? Are you going to fight?" Kadma said into a cocky tone, putting her hands on her hips. A bunch of vines sprout from the ground and started to grow in front of the Earth Guardian. "Bring it, you insufferable genius!"

Before the two of them could start a fight, Cassidy and Halinor got in front of Nerissa and Kadma, respectively; arms extended in order to stop them. "I think that you two need to calm down" Yan Lin said. "In fact, I think that all of us could use a long night sleep in order to rest."

After several minutes, the two girls calmed down, and their elements with them. It was always weird between these two. They were very similar, but also very different. That drove them to conflict, but also to a fast understatement.

"You are right, Yan Lin." Nerissa admitted. She looked at Kadma. "Sorry."

"Nothing" her friend admitted. "I'm sorry too."

"We will go to rest now" Nerissa declared, her long, black hair flapping in the night air of Winchester. "Tomorrow we will search for this Folkner guy. Maybe he has information not only about Mrs. Ibsen, but also the Ragorlang."

And with that, the girls flew back into the skies. They went to a house that Kandrakar had established as their HQ in Winchester (from where that house had came from, they didn't know); and in there, they slept.

* * *

As the girls slept, the Ragorlang went to where Folkner had ordered it to go once it had gathered the energy. It was an abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of the great British city. There, the creature coiled itself and rested, as the girls were doing in their beds. As the sun started to rise, Edward Folkner made his appearance.

Entering in the warehouse, body garbed into a long coat and his face covered by shadows; the Ragorlang could see how the raisin sun projected its light behind Folkner, making his glasses shine in contrast with his shadowed face. He was carrying the box.

"Interesting" he said. He put the box in the ground. "It seems that you can now alternate between a Ragorlang's eyes and a human's. Maybe is a progression of the bonding of the two types of DNA. With enough time, I suppose that your genetic code could have balanced itself with the Ragorlang's. A new brand species could have been born from you." He sighed. "But we are not here to create something new or revolutionize this planet. I'm not alchemist. I just want to live enough."

Folkner readjusted his glasses. "Put the energy in the box. Fill it, until it's complete."

The Ragorlang did as told. But its movements weren't as natural as they were while hunting. It was clear that the creature wasn't doing this for pleasure. It was clear that it was being forced to act.

"Fill it!" Folkner shouted.

The Ragorlang did as told. Opening its mouth over the box, the energy started to flow from it to the magical device. And as the energy poured, the Ragorlang started to decrease in both height and weight. In the end, only the gasping and tired form of Tecla Ibsen.

"You are still alive" stated Folkner.

"Yes, master." the orange haired woman said.

"Explain me how." Folkner ordered while taking the now completed box. "And at the same time you are doing that..." he looked at the horizon and held the box tightly to his chest with both arms, as if preventing someone from stealing it. "Explain to me why the people in town and in the pubs are speaking about demons and five..."

* * *

"Angels, Patrick; I'm being serious!" shouted a man in the middle of a pub, his skin of a sickening yellow.

"Whatever you say, Bob." muttered his interlocutor, a fat man with a tone of skin that for some strange genetic fashion was very similar to pink.

Listening to this conversation was Karl Ibsen. He usually came to this place in order to ease his situation by drinking. At first, he had thought about those five girls as nothing but a dream produced by stress and sleep privation, but now... He leaned over his fifth glass of beer and listened closely to the two men; and as their words soaked in his mind, an idea began to form inside his head.

"No, no! I really mean angels! They were flying and fighting a demon! I swear to God, they were five...!"

* * *

"Guardians!" Folkner shouted in his house, Tecla in it too. "They had sent the fucking Guardians of Kandrakar!" Folkner yelled as he walked furiously from edge to edge of his own house, the box still clenched between his hands. Tecla witnessed the spectacle impassively, as her mind was still under Folkner's spell.

"This could ruin everything!" Folkner said again, to nobody in particular. "It will take a lot of time to use that energy to...!"

Folkner stopped in his tracks, and put the box over his living room's table. He breathed deeply and calmed himself, his voice reassuming its usual coldness. "No, no; it's not over yet." He looked at Tecla. "Perhaps your survival has come in handy." He went to his kitchen and took the two remaining vials of serum from the refrigerator. "If they are looking for a Ragorlang, I will give them a Ragorlang. Don't you agree, Tecla?"

Tecla Ibsen looked at him, but it was as if she was looking to the nothingness. "Yes master."

Folkner thought for a moment, and readjusted his glasses again. "Listen, there is a high possibility that those five come here; if they are smart enough to put two and two together. So, in the moment they are near, I want you to…"

* * *

It was sunset again when the Guardians started to head to Folkner's house. None of them had woken up very fresh, and not even Yan Lin had awakened as early as she was accustomed too. They supposed that the fact that staying up late fighting evil wasn't very helpful with waking up early. And so, they hadn't gone to the streets until mid afternoon, after their breakfast had mixed with their meal into a weird session of eating cookies in pajamas at one p.m.

"And what we are supposed to say to this Folkner when we find him?" Kadma asked.

"He is the last person who saw Tecla Ibsen before her disappearance." Halinor stated. "Maybe he has information about her whereabouts, or where she went when after talking with him."

"Or about the Ragorlang" Nerissa said, narrowing her eyes and feeling the Heart's passionate beats against her bare skin. She was angry. It was the first time her team didn't accomplish a mission in the first try, the first time that hers and Kadma's brawls really did something against the team in the field. And look at what happened to Cassidy. If she wasn't a Guardian or if she had gotten hit by the whole car… Nerissa didn't want to think about it. It was the first time that the team had lost, that _SHE_ had lost.

Yan Lin pointed into one house's direction. "I think that it's that one." the chinese girl replied. "But I don't think that Mr. Folkner knows anything about the Ragorlang. I mean, why would he know anything about…?"

Yan Lin's sentence was cut off as a table was thrown out the window of Edward Folkner's house; then a little ornamented box and a fridge, then a bunch of books… followed directly by a man in his mid-forties that landed badly against the ground. It was a man wearing a pair of broken glasses, and badly injured in his right arm.

"I took that this is Folkner?" Cassidy commented pointing to the guy.

"Oh my God!" Halinor shouted, going to the man's aid as fast as she could. "Are you alright?"

"Please… the police… call the police" Edward Folkner said weakly, and raised her remaining good arm to point to the window. "She is… isn't." Folkner was able to say before fainting.

"She who?" asked Kadma, but her answer came in the form of Tecla Ibsen, jumping straight from the broken window into the street. She landed graciously in the ground and looked at the girls before smiling defiantly and running in the opposite direction.

"Wasn't that Mrs. Ibsen?" Cassidy asked, dumbfounded.

"Wait!" Nerissa shouted to the running woman. "Is he alright, Halinor?"

Halinor took the man's hand and measured his pulse. She nodded after a few seconds. "He is just unconscious."

Nerissa sighed in relief and took the Heart out of her jacket. "The neighbors will call an ambulance, don't worry, we have something more important to focus in. Guardians, Unite!"

After the flash of pink was gone, the five Guardians took flight and let Edward Folkner lying in the ground, waiting for medical help. Of course, help wasn't needed, and after the Guardians had disappeared from his viewing range in pursue of Tecla. When he was sure of not being watched, he got up and dispelled the glamour surrounding his body, the illusionary wounds and bruises disappearing.

"I'm surprised to see how incredibly easy is to trick the minds of the youth." Folkner commented as he crouched and took the box from the ground. "A little glamour here, a few convincing words there; and they will walk blindly in the direction you point them in."

He stretched himself and looked at the street that had been his home for so long for a last time. "Farewell Winchester" the man said, readjusting his glasses with his free hand while he clutched the box in the other. "It has been a pleasure."

And with those words Folkner turned around and abandoned Winchester. No one else saw him again in that city. He travelled to a more tranquil place and changed his name, obtaining a peaceful live. Using the energy gathered and his own knowledge of sorcery, he was able to cure himself of cancer and enlarge his lifespan. Neither Kandrakar nor the Guardians ever knew about Edward Folkner. Things like Kandrakar don't bother with the Edward Folkner-s of this universe; too focused in the threats that endanger the universe as a whole, not thinking that Earth can witness the blooming of such a mind. In the end, he died at the age of 87; happy and having achieved everything that he wanted in life. He died painless in his bed, a satisfied smile in his face.

Unaware of Folkner's escape, the Guardians were purchasing Tecla Ibsen, flying over her and trying not to lose her if the woman turned around a corner or entered a dark alley to small to see its content from above.

"She is heading to the cathedral!" Halinor shouted, noticing a patron in the woman's movements. At the same time that she was trying to hide from them she was advancing to the religious building.

"Let her go!" Nerissa shouted. "We can corner her in the cathedral better than in the streets!" and so they did, letting Tecla Ibsen to run as she pleased, into Winchester's Cathedral.

"Why is she running anyway?!" Cassidy asked as the five of them flew towards the imposing and beautiful building. In the dark of the night, only illuminated by the dim light of the moon, the cathedral looked as something out of a nightmare. "Why did she do that to Folkner?"

No one answered to that, but Yan Lin's face darkened with worry. She felt a chill running up her spine, and she felt it increasing as they approached the cathedral. " _I have a very bad feeling about this…_ "

The insides of the cathedral were quiet; too quiet, even for a place of praying. Even at night, some people should have been heard, as it wasn't too late. Or movement, the Guardians should be able to perceive some movement in the building. But there wasn't.

"Girls, why I have the strange sensation that this may be a trap?" Halinor asked to her friends.

"Because it is." Tecla's voice echoed through the cathedral's nave. "I still can't believe that you followed me here."

"Tecla Ibsen!" Nerissa shouted. "In behalf of the Council of Kandrakar, I demand you to surrender yourself!"

" _Whoa, cheesy…_ " Cassidy thought to herself.

A dry chuckle echoed through the nave as the previous statement of the woman had done. It was clear that Cassidy wasn't the only one that had thought that Nerissa's words sounded cheesy. "Does that ever work?" Tecla asked. Her voice seemed to come from every direction, from every shadow.

"You are behind the attacks of the Ragorlang, aren't you?" Nerissa asked; her and the other four forming a circle in order to not leave their rearguard unprotected. "Why did you do that? What do you gain from it?"

"Why do you think that I'm behind the attacks?" Tecla's voice asked again.

"It was too strange and suspicious that you disappeared at the same time the more brutal attacks that started." Nerissa said. "My suspicions started when Mr. Ibsen told us about the fact that your corpse wasn't found already. There was no other explanation." Nerissa made a pause. "Why did you do that? Why did you betray your own husband?"

" _You didn't tell us that, Nerissa_ " Kadma said in her mind, using their telepathic link for the first time since they had reached Winchester.

" _I didn't want to until my suspicions were confirmed_ " the Keeper of the Hearth retorted back at the Earth guardian.

"Energy." Tecla answered Nerissa's questions, not paying attention to the girls. "Energy is everything. I don't know why, but I need It." she tried to put her best effort into that speech; trying to put in it all the emotion that the master had indicated to put in it when he had said those words to her. It was, as he said, 'in order to make it believable'.

"And the more I have" Tecla continued. "The more I need. It's something that I can't explain. It just feels good, to have all that."

"That's a pretty pathetic reason for killing innocent people." Nerissa stated.

The dry chuckle echoed again. "Don't underestimate the desire for more than you have, Guardian, even if it's something as trivial as energy, or power. Once you have tasted it, you want more; it's inevitable." Tecla made a pause. "But I wasn't asking for your reasoning back there."

"Oh, you weren't?" Kadma intervened in the conversation. She didn't like where this was going.

"I was asking why you think I'm behind the attacks…?" the five Guardians looked into a sole direction now. Out behind a pillar, Tecla Ibsen appeared, leaving behind her the two emptied vials of serum. The five guardians looked at her, and she looked at them smirking. "And not the one perpetuating them?"

At those words, the serum made its effect and Tecla Ibsen felt how her body shifted once more into the one of a Ragorlang, every trace of her humanity being overwritten by the creature's genetic code, both physically and psychologically. No hair, no legs; neither a human body or a human mind; Tecla's consciousness being repealed to a corner of her own mind.

"She _is_ the Ragorlang?!" Yan Lin exclaimed.

Nerissa scolded at the creature. Her suspicions had been nothing compared to this. Had there been more than one Ragorlang perpetrating the crimes? Or had it been Tecla Ibsen since the beginning?

The Ragorlang stood as big as it was. Not as towering as it had been the night before, after feeding on both three innocents and the energy derived from Nerissa's and Halinor's attacks; but it was big; with a height of at least three meters. Good thing that the nave of the cathedral was so massive. As the girls fell into a fighting position, the dark-purple creature roared at them. Nerissa and Halinor took the back of the formation, and both Yan Lin and Cassidy took flight. Kadma maintained her position, the spearhead of the team. She was hoping that whatever she did, the cathedral wouldn't end very damaged. But surprising all of them, instead of attacking directly after roaring, the Ragorlang just flipped backwards and melted into the shadow that was being casted near a wall.

"It's trying to use the same strategy than yesterday!" Nerissa yelled. "Halinor quick, do the-!"

But Nerissa couldn't end her sentence, neither could have Halinor heard it. Because in a very similar way to Nerissa, the Ragorlang wasn't a creature that committed the same mistakes two times in a row.

Rising from Halinor's very own shadow, the creature trapped the blond Fire Guardian between its three fingered claws and opening its circular jaw, it towered over Halinor, who could only stare at the being's hungry eyes in terror. Then she started to feel weaker and weaker, as some sort of red stream of energy came out her body and entered the Ragorlang's mouth. As the process continued, Halinor's vision became blurry, and her consciousness faded, letting her unconscious. When the grip of the monster broke, her body fell to the ground as a puppet which strings had been cut, and the Ragorlang roared powerfully, its size increasing as its eyes flared as red as Halinor's flames.

"Halinor!" shouted Kadma, as she made vines sprout from the ground, trapping the Ragorlang. She then flew as fast as she could and grabbed the unconscious form of the blond Guardian from the ground, flying out of the Ragorlang's reach when it gathered enough strength to break free from the vines. "She is still alive!" Kadma yelled in relief.

Not wanting to remain as useless as the night before, Nerissa conjured a bolt of Quintessence and made it roam the whole cathedral's structure. Smiling, the long black haired woman felt how something was starting to move inside the cathedral's walls, under its floor. " _God bless churches that keep up with technology_ " the Quintessence Guardian thought as a bunch of cables and wires shot from the walls and started both to wrap and hit the Ragorlang like whips. When enough damage was done, Nerissa clenched her fist and the cables took the form of a giant black fist, and Nerissa punched the Ragorlang with it, sending the purple creature to the other corner of the nave.

"Take that, bitch!" the Keeper of the Heart shouted. "That's what happens when you hurt _my_ team!" She looked at Kadma. "Bring Halinor behind us and form a protection circle around her! The Heart should be supplying her energy until we defeat this beast!"

Of course, the Ragorlang wasn't going to let that happen. Beings that couldn't burn out of energy? They could be consumed until the end of the days, and the creature's hunger was big. Before Kadma could reach the others, the Ragorlang broke one of the pillars of the nave by flipping it with its tail and tossed it to the ceiling, breaking some parts of it that fell to the Guardians. Yan Lin made a dome of wind that held the rocks that had been part of the ceiling to not hit them, but Kadma had to held them with her powers. Not wanting for Halinor to be hurt, she used her telekinetically powers in order to bring the blonde to the other three. However, she didn't have much luck with that. As she tossed the rocks aside, the Ragorlang approached her quickly and held the Earth Guardian with its tail. And as it had done with Halinor, the Ragorlang also drained her out of energy, letting Kadma unconscious. As the Ragorlang grew larger, it looked at Kadma, seeing with its eyes how the energy inside the girl was starting to refill itself. The Ragorlang decided to pull more energy out of that body, in order to make his own strong enough to withstand the other three, but when he was in the verge of it, Kadma's body teleported away, just behind Nerissa, Cassidy and Yan Lin; at Halinor's side.

" _Prideful idiot_ " Nerissa thought tenderly, glancing back at Kadma's body. " _I could have teleported the two of you. But you always want to play the hero in front of Halinor, Kadma._ "

"Cassidy!" Nerissa yelled. "Pay that monster back!"

Not hiding her rage, Cassidy shot a potent torrent of high pressured water to the Ragorlang. The dark-purple creature blocked it by crossing its arms, and endured the hit as best as it could. But beating the Ragorlang with that attack wasn't Cassidy's intention, but a diversion. As the monster blocked the main attack and dispelled it by opening its arms, Cassidy appeared in close range and shot a bunch of little water bullets from the middle and index fingers of both hands, almost mimicking a gunslinger like a child does. The bullets flew fast and strong and hit against the Ragorlang's eyes, making the two eyeballs to explode into a mess of flying pieces of meat and purple blood. The Ragorlang fell to the ground and shrieked in pain; as its claws drifted to its face and, not wanting to suffer more than needed, it melted again inside a shadow.

Cassidy flew back to her friends, and the three of them looked over Kadma and Halinor. "Are we sure they are okay?" the Water Guardian asked.

Nerissa nodded. "If they could be emptied of energy, they would be dead by now." Nerissa breathed. "Form a circle around them and watch each other's backs. The Ragorlang won't be in the shadows for so long."

"I still can't believe that Mrs. Ibsen was the Ragorlang" Yan Lin said, looking at every direction. She thought that she had seen something at her left.

The Ragorlang appeared moments later, having its eyes regenerated. Its size hadn't decreased so much, but that was expecting considered that it had consumed energy from two Guardians. As it had done before, it broke one pillar with its tail, but this time, the creature threw it at the trio. As done before, Yan Lin projected an air dome over their heads in order to protect them from the attack. But that wasn't the Ragorlang's plan. As Yan Lin held the pillar, the rock adornment casted a shadow over the ground, and the Ragorlang used it to appear right between them. Nerissa tried to use the teleportation again, but the Ragorlang hit both her and Yan Lin with its tail, sending them flying. Cassidy, in the other hand, met the same fate as Kadma and Halinor had, her energy poured from her body and eaten by the Ragorlang.

And so, the last two members of the quintet standing were Nerissa and Yan Lin. Nerissa held one of her hands to her left eye. It had been damaged when the Ragorlang had attacked them, now sporting a vertical wound that had started to pour blood and turn Nerissa's vision red. Her chinese companion tried to made the Ragorlang to fall back punching the air and throwing a barrier of wind at it, but the Ragorlang just let the attack to smash and shatter against its purple skin.

Nerissa, her anger taking over and clouding her mind, just charged a bolt of Quintessence and shot it to the Ragorlang; not bothering to remember what her powers did to the creature. As the Ragorlang absorbed the lightning, the three contenders didn't notice the small form of Karl Ibsen, watching the fight from the sidelines.

"Shit!" cursed the Keeper of the Heart, as she evaded one of the Ragorlang's three-fingered claws.

"Nerissa, stop it, you are just making her stronger!" Yan Lin yelled to her friend.

"Then what I'm supposed to do Yan Lin?!" Nerissa yelled back as the two of them flew in the air. "Look at what she did to the others!" said the black haired woman pointing to the three fallen girls.

Knowing that a simple current of air wouldn't make any difference, Yan Lin made a mini tornado and used it to elevate the Ragorlang in the air and made it clash with one of the cathedral's walls. Nerissa, knowing that a lightning strike would do more harm than good, used her Quintessence to animate the branches of the nave and toss them to the creature.

This was a hard battle, Yan Lin thought. Not only were three of them down, but their enemy seemed to be stronger than ever. She had to think of something, some plan or trick to pull off in order to beat this thing and save the day! But, as she was too busy thinking about her fallen comrades and how to save them, she didn't notice the twirling tail of the beast. It hit her, and smashed her body against one of the columns. And so, Yan Lin's consciousness faded into the dark.

* * *

The chinese girl woke up the morning after, in the bed that she had picked up in their Winchester lockout. At first she thought that all had been just a dream, the Ragorlang, the Ibsens, Mr. Folkner and the church… until she exited her provisional room, her body still in her civilian attire from yesterday (and smelling pretty bad at that), and she went to the kitchen, where she found Nerissa alone, in her civilian clothes too, looking at the heart of Kandrakar, the pink jewel hanging from her hand.

"Nerissa?" asked Yan Lin.

At first her friend and leader seemed to not notice, but then she spoke, albeit not even looking at her. "Yes?"

Yan Lin didn't know what was going on. "The cathedral… with the Ragorlang and…"

"We won" Nerissa answered, not lifting her eyes from the jewel. "You were unconscious and I blasted the dammed thing through its chest. It's dead."

"Dead?" Yan Lin asked weakly. "Where are the others?"

"In their rooms." Nerissa answered. "I teleported back here when the fight ended. Their connection to the Heart should be enough to recharge their strength and energy."

"But if you killed her…" Yan Lin continued to talk to her friend. "What about the corpse? What about all the damage we did to the cathedral?"

"I called for Kandrakar already." Nerissa answered. "They will probably wipe out the memories of the citizens about the conflict and repair the cathedral."

"But, Mr. Ibsen…" Yan Lin asked.

"That woman probably was manipulating him, but I didn't tell them about that part. Let the man to put his wife in a grave. Kandrakar doesn't deserve… doesn't need to know."

" _Deserve?_ " asked Yan Lin in her mind, but she didn't dare to voice her question.

"I have been thinking…" Nerissa said to her friend, looking at her for the first time in their conversation. "That maybe there was another way to do this. Maybe Tecla Ibsen wasn't evil, she didn't seem like that. Maybe she just… got cursed with some unknown spell and she mutated into a Ragorlang."

"Nerissa, you aren't…" Yan Lin tried to say to her friend that she wasn't guilty over the woman's demise, but Nerissa cut her midsentence.

"I know I'm not guilty. We won, we had a mission and we accomplished it." Nerissa said "But it's better to prevent than to cure. If there wasn't any Ragorlang since the beginning, this could have been avoided."

Yan Lin shrugged. "I don't know about that." Yan looked at the clock that was pending over the wall. "I'm still tired, so I will go back to my room."

"We will go back to Heatherfield when the others awake" Nerissa stated.

"Good." Yan Lin stopped herself in the door's frame. She thought of a way of raising her friend's moral as best as she could. "You know Nerissa, I don't usually say this but… you are a good leader. You saved me and all of us, and you always know how to handle hard situations. You now, sometimes I think that it's a shame that you aren't directing Kandrakar."

The chinese girl disappeared and let her friend alone. And there, alone in the kitchen, Nerissa looked back at the Heart, and as the pink jewel's light reflected upon her green eyes, Nerissa let the words of her friend to sink in her mind and soul.

"Yes, it's a shame."

* * *

 ** _The present_**

Yan Lin had been telling her story to the presents for more than an entire hour. Some of her former teammates had to step in and help her to fill some hollow spaces in the telling, but overall, she had been able to retell the whole trip to Winchester. Of course, she hadn't been able to told them youths about Edward Folkner, as she herself hadn't know about him and his real involvement in the Ragorlang's apparition. After all, no one bothers finding the Edwards Folkner-s of this universe. It's much easier to point your powers at the big, bad monster; and shot it with everything you have.

"After that we travelled back home and the Oracle congratulated us in our success." Yan Lin explained. "He confirmed Nerissa's suspicions, that Tecla Ibsen probably was infected with some remnant of the Ragorlang from the distant past and that her body and mind had been taken over by the beast's instincts; since he couldn't find nothing that confirmed that Tecla had been a sorceress or had any connection or knowledge about the Ragorlang." The asian elder made a pause and looked over the table. Her granddaughter and the other members of WITCH seemed pretty down in animosity, and her former companions looked older than ever. This was one of the reasons that she hated retelling their old times as a team; as a _real team_ made of _friends_. Only five years after that very same mission, tragedy struck her team twice. One as Cassidy's death; and the other as its cause: Nerissa's betrayal and imprisonment. All those happy and triumphant memories of adventures in other worlds… all of them headed to the same point; the same snowy night and the same cliff at Mount Thanos… and Cassidy's corpse in the bottom of the rift, her blood painting the snow red. Endarno was the one who had better maintained composure over the whole story. After all, how many people and friends had he lost back in Basilade; back as a sage?

"We… never spoke again about this mission, until now. We had almost forgotten Mr. Ibsen. Who could have thought that what we did would transform him in that vengeful man…"

"But it makes sense" Halinor said. "If what Will has told us is true, then Tecla gave him the energy that she had gained from Kadma, Cassidy and me before she died. His powers must be a reflection of ours, but instead of controlling our elements, he gained the ability to use our combined secondary abilities at the same time. Cassidy's hypnotism, Kadma's telekinesis, and my telepathy."

Yan Lin breathed deeply and looked at the five girls and one boy sitting in front of her. "I'm sorry for what my generation had caused yours. But this is the truth of who we are. Is up to you to judge."

At first, none of the girls said anything. Yan Lin's story had cleared what Riddle's couldn't; but it only made everything more complicated. As none of them knew about Folkner, none of them could find a real culprit to their current situation. That was it, wasn't it? There was no real culprit, not this time; and that was a thought shared by every one of them. No magical and petty tyrant; not manipulative witch; no treacherous shape-shifting snake. It was only a chain of events, and people caught in it. Was this what people like the Oracle and the sages called 'fate'? If it was, none of them liked it.

Will's head titled to the side, and she looked at Endarno. The old warrior noticed the Keeper's stare and knew that his turn had come. Now it was Kandrakar's, and not its Guardians', time to answer for their past mistakes.

"And the 'Purges'?" Will asked.

Endarno put his hands together and looked at the five girls. His eyes lasting over Hay Lin more than over the others, the man took a deep breath, interlaced his fingers and, as Yan Lin had just finished doing, he told them a story.

"The Purges you are referring to" Endarno said, pointing at Will briefly with both index fingers. "Are probably something that Kandrakar's had called as 'The Purges of Earth' for millennia."

"Purges of Earth?" asked Irma, Hay Lin resting her head over the Water Guardian's shoulder. "Why I don't like how that sounds like?"

"The Purges of Earth…" Endarno said, looking at his hands. "The Purges of Earth were a process carried out by Kandrakar and the Council of Light in the times of an Oracle named Noah, the fourth Oracle of the Fortress of Light. It was long ago, I doubt that any of the current sages of the Council had been even born. From what I have read, in that time Earth's relationship with Kandrakar was as close as now its Meridian's; or Basilade's. Earth was blooming with magic, and so was the human race."

"Wait" Taranee interrupted the man. "You are telling me that every human being was able to use magic?"

"No, not every one of them." Endarno corrected girl. "But there were many people that were able to use it since birth, and master it to incredible extent. Many of the people that humans of the past venerated as Gods were just mighty sorcerers of an unimaginable level of power." Endarno started to use his fingers to number. "Zeus; Indra, Susanoo… the first person to ever hold the Heart of Earth was a man named Ymir. He also was at war with another mighty sorcerer named Bor, and his family. It's usually believed that a member of Bor's family defeated Ymir and gained the power of the Heart of Earth from the fallen man."

"Wait, wait, wait…" Cornelia interrupted the old warrior. "You mean Zeus… as in the Greek God Zeus? The one with those lightning powers?"

"And if I remember correctly from Mr. Collins' classes" Hay Lin stepped in "Ymir wasn't a giant or something?"

"Mythology is usually derived from reality" Endarno explained. "The Lightning of the King of Olympus could be a strange way to refer to a form of magic similar to Quintessence; and it's not very difficult for a full-fledged Heart of a world to alter reality and made the user's body to grow in size."

Matt and Cornelia exchanged looks. They remembered how Lillian had shrunken the girls' bodies when they were under her glamour zone, but neither of them had suspected that the kid could turn into a giant with enough time and practice. Note to take.

"But," Endarno continued "Earth is probably the biggest and most populated world that is part of the Infinite Dimensions; and that didn't seem to change in those days. Many humans had started to travel to other worlds and establish colonies in them. That's how the humans of Arkhanta were as numerous as the Banshees and establishing civilizations in no time when in the past they had been nothing but little settlements of men and women. Or why people like Luba and I can be born in the same world and be so different. The human race started to jump to other worlds as fast as it had done with the lands of its own home world."

Endarno made a pause. "With the pass of enough time there started to be people who deemed that… _dangerous_." Endarno smiled sadly. "And in some sort of way, I suppose they were right. Humans were so many, and so powerful; that more and more worlds seemed to think that they were getting ready to conquer other worlds… or even overthrown Kandrakar itself."

Both WITCH and CHYKN were looking at Endarno, none of them liking where this story was going. "And so, one day, the Oracle of that time, Noah, decided alongside his fellow sages and councilmen that… it was time to make a purge of them."

"Oh no" the angry voice of Taranee was heard. "Oh no, you didn't…!"

"I'm afraid, young Guardian of Fire," Endarno said, still looking at his hands "that yes they… _we_ did. In that age, the Guardians weren't formed by a quintet of human girls, but by women of very different worlds and species. There was only a human among them, and it was the one holding the element of Air; probably an ancestor of you two." Endarno said looking at both Yan and Hay Lin. "According to the scrolls regarding this matter in the Grand Library; Noah and his peers took these women, _forced_ them to touch the Dragons, and threw them against Earth and its inhabitants."

"Bastards…" Irma said between her teeth, containing her anger. She was sure that if she shouted to someone now, she would probably make the snow or some pipe to burst out. Hay Lin noticed this and held the girls hand with hers. The Guardian of Water was shaking, and Hay Lin suspected that Irma wasn't being conscious of it.

"Genocide." Taranee said, and rubbed her tempers, her mind not believing it at all. She then slammed her palms on the table, letting burns with the form of her opened hands in it. She looked at Endarno, and her eyes flared with real flames. "You committed genocide in Earth?!" she yelled.

Endarno nodded sadly. "As you may have guessed, the body count was… the word enormous isn't able to start describing it. By the end of the Purges, the population of the planet had been reduced considerably, and there were almost no users of magic left behind."

"The Noah you have mentioned, the Oracle" Matt stepped in the conversation. "It's the same Noah that the Bible speaks about, isn't he? The one that was chosen by God to survive the flood."

"Probably" Endarno muttered. "But he didn't avoid his share of suffering. When the process ended, Noah went insane almost immediately. It's detailed in the scrolls how he almost lost the ability to sleep, due to having nightmares in which the corpses of the earthlings appeared and hunted him. He reached a point where the corpses started to hunt him while awake and since the power of an Oracle is unparalleled in the Infinite Dimensions… let's say that the madness of an all powerful being isn't pretty. As for the five Guardians that were forced to touch the Dragons…"

"Let me guess" the voice of Kadma entered to stage "they never returned, did they?"

Endarno shook his head. "No Guardian since the ones of the First Generation has been able to use that power freely without risks. The fact that you five were able to return from that state is unbelievable and praiseworthy in itself. In order to free those Guardians from that state and also to free Kandrakar and protect the Infinite Dimensions from the madness of Oracle Noah, the Council of Light bestowed upon the Keeper of the Aurameres, the Warden of the Tower of Mists and the Head of the sages the authority and power to… _strip_ an Oracle from his or her position and power. Noah was soon removed from his position and imprisoned in the Tower of Mists, where he ended passing away after some decades, his mind and behavior a complete opposite of what they had been. As for the Guardians, the Council of that time didn't see any other option but to kill them in an act of mercy."

"The Oracle never told me about this generation you are speaking of when he told me about how touching the Dragons had affected Will and the others." Matt spoke.

"As you can guess, young Regent of Earth;" Endarno retorted to the teenager "this is not something that Kandrakar is proud of, much less any Oracle. We try to maintain it in the past, unremembered."

"But it's still there." Matt said to the sage. "The only thing you will get doing that was to people to forget it. And if a mistake is forgotten but not solved," Matt felt Shagon twirling inside him, almost as if the Hate Demon's essence was giving a metaphysical nod to his reasoning "then you can only repeat it."

Endarno looked at the boy, Matt's arms crossed over his chest. There wasn't hatred in his stare, or any anger, just… _disappointment_. He had never thought about the Purges in this depth before, but now that he had he understood why the youngster would feel disappointed. Anyone should.

"In order to make amends for what they had allowed Noah to do" Endarno continued, wanting to finish the tale. "The members of the Council of Light made it so the only species that which members could be chosen as Guardians were members of the Human Race. And since that dark moment in Kandrakar's history, our only link and mean to help to humanity had been only the Guardians. Generations after that, Oracle Helia choose a warrior of Earth named Escanor in order to unite the people of Meridian in a whole kingdom; thinking that it could be a way of tightening our relations with humans."

"How…?" Cornelia asked. "How did Khor know about those Purges?"

"Khor, the Destroyer." Endarno said; the name and title sounding dreading in the old warrior's voice. "Some time after the Purges, he and another of his brethren; the Great Wolf Fenrir, settled down in Earth and terrorized the earthlings, taking advantage of the magical population decrease. The scrolls detailing their time in Earth are confusing to say the least, but after some decades they disappeared; both of them. That's why Khor's reappearance is so remarkable. He was thought dead millennia ago."

Silence took hold of the table, and both elders and youths said nothing for various minutes. Then, slowly a giggled started to be heard. The giggle's volume started to raise until it become a laughter; and every head spun to look at Will. The redhead was laughing dryly, sarcastically, or almost cruelly. "A world without magic" she said between the giggles.

"What?" Endarno asked, a little confused.

"A world without magic." Will repeated. "It's what Riddle is trying to made of this planet. No Guardians, no Kandrakar, no magic at all in Earth. And that's exactly what you did. I just find it incredibly ironic, that's all. Sorry for laughing, I just needed to blow some stress."

Halinor put her head between her hands, leaning her elbows in the table, her blond locks falling into the piece of furniture. "I feel so incredibly sick and dirty right now." Halinor had decided to serve the Council after Nerissa's betrayal, thinking that if she dedicated the rest of her life to serve Kandrakar, she could compensate for her fallen leader's sins. And now, everything was crumbling. Nerissa's crimes, both as a Guardian and as a criminal and thief of power were nothing in comparison with the corpses in Kandrakar's closet.

"So that's it, isn't it?" Taranee told Endarno. "In the end none of you are better than the people you made us go after!" After her yell, Taranee sat down and seemed to shrink in her seat. First her mother and now Kandrakar; it was like everything she had looked up to was a lie. She felt so confused and scared, and sad… she wanted to go home, but a part of her didn't want to return to that place never again. Another part of her wanted to call Nigel, hug him and let the sweet boy's kindness to clean her sorrow away, but how could she look at him after what her mother had done to him? After what her family had done to his? In the end, she wasn't better than Kandrakar. But after all, she was a Guardian. God, she wanted to burn something so badly…

"Can I ask a question, Mr. Endarno?" Hay Lin voice rose shyly, as did her right hand.

"Of course" Endarno answered.

"How do you do that?" Hay Lin asked. "Create a world without magic, I mean."

"Well, there are ways to do so," Endarno explained "but I doubt that this Riddle and the others can accomplish…"

" _They can_." Will interrupted the sage. "If there is a way to do it, they will find it."

Endarno's expression darkened. "There is a form, complicated, never used but… but it can be done."

"Which is…?" the redhead asked now.

Endarno's gaze shifted then to Matt and then Cornelia. "The easiest way to create a world without magic is to break its source of mystical energy. In other words" Endarno took air. "You have to _destroy_ the world's Heart."

It seemed as if the air in the garden had been dried instantly and as if everybody had grown stiff. Cornelia's face widened in horror.

"Lillian!"

* * *

 ** _Hale residence._**

Lillian Hale liked fairy tales; that was something that everyone that looked inside her room knew in an instant. While the stuffed animals typical of a girl her age were here and there; there were also little, cartoon-like stuffed dragons, princesses and knights and dozens and dozens of storybooks regarding fantasy tales. Handmade magical wands and pointy witch hats had an entire level in Lillian's closet; and if a rainy day meant that going out wasn't in plan, then her mother usually put a movie about witches or fairies in the TV, and that kept the little girl distracted for hours, with a happy grin in her face. But now Lillian had another kind of pastime, thanks to a little feline that Will one day carried to her home.

Both cat and child were in the Hale's living room, and in the corner of the window, the little form of Mr. Huggles could be seen. Since the Guardians' defeat at Villa Ludmoore both animals had kept constant surveillance in the little girl. If someone dared to act strangely around Lillian, both of them would shift into their Regent forms and beat that someone into an inch of his life. Of course, this meant that Napoleon had to cope with Lillian's games.

"Now, be a frog!" Lillian said while smacking Napoleon in the head with a toy wand. The cat just received the stroke in a gentle manner and just meow at the child's gesture. A part of him was glad that Lillian wasn't still in full control over the Heart of Earth, or he will likely be a frog for real.

Suddenly, Napoleon heard a low noise outside the apartment that served the Hales for a home. It wasn't a normal noise, making a signal to Mr. Huggles, Napoleon directed himself to the door, to Lillian's amusement, who thought that he was escaping and pursued the cat, waving her wand as she ran behind him.

"There is no escape from Lillian the Great Mage, cat!" said the kid, waving the wand strongly.

Meanwhile, Napoleon reached the door and had assumed a fighting position, prepared for shifting into his humanoid form if the door burst, or exploded, or whatever could happen. But none of them happened, as the door opened normally and revealed Cornelia, the other members of WITCH and Matt, all of them again in their clothes and standing by the door. Cornelia looked at the cat.

"Napoleon! Did something happen to Lillian?! Where is she?!" the Earth Guardian shouted.

"Shush!" Napoleon told her. "Your parents are here, girl; taking a nap after looking for the kid. I think that she had hit some sort of hyper-energetic age, or something… And lil' Lillian is here too, good as new. Nothing happened."

Cornelia let out a sigh of relief as Lillian reached Napoleon and, by extension, her. "Cornelia!" the blonde little girl said, as she ran to her big sister and Cornelia kneeled in order to embrace her. "Where have you been? Were you with your boyfriend? Mom will be mad at you!" Then Lillian's hands reached Cornelia's back as she hugged her, and even under the blonde's clothes, the child could feel that there was something _very_ wrong with her back. "Cornelia, are you alright? Is there something wrong with your back?"

Cornelia flinched, as did Will behind her. "Nah, everything is okay pipsqueak." the Earth Guardian told her sister, and patted her in the head. "You are alright."

"Yeah, why shouldn't I?" the little girl said, and then waved her toy wand. "I'm Lillian the Great Mage, and I'm going to put a spell in that cat!"

Rolling his eyes, but also smiling, Napoleon ran again to the living room, and Lillian dashed behind him. Cornelia rose and looked at how her sister was playing, smiling and relived.

"You know, if someone told me a year ago that Cornelia Hale was going to become a protective big sister, I would laugh at their face" Irma commented, closing her arms over her torso and smiling at the blonde.

"Well, they would be wrong." Cornelia said. "I know that I wasn't the best sister out there, but if some creep tries to hurt my sister then I will bury him. But it seems that everything is okay."

"I wouldn't say that." Will said. "Cornelia, can I use your terrace a moment?"

"Sure, but why?"

Not answering, Will went to the blonde's house terrace and started to look at the sky. The sun would soon reach its peak in the sky, signaling how the day had only reached its half. After looking, Will raised her hand and pointed it to a spot in the sky. Conjuring a bolt of Quintessence, the redhead shot it randomly. Except it wasn't a random spot. The lightning bolt hit something in the sky, and as a column of smoke rose from it, a drone lost its camouflage and, tripling, fall to the Hales' terrace with a * _THURD_ *.

As the other girls walked to the terrace and circled around the drone, Irma pointed at the machine. "The hell is that."

"It looks like one of those drones" said Taranee. "They are like non tripulated airplanes, but in miniature."

"Is that a camera?" Hay Lin asked, pointing to an oversized lent in the drone. "Do you think that it's still recording?"

"Doomstad" Will said. "He must have been watching the entire time. If it wasn't for my powers I doubt no one could have noticed that it was there."

"Well, as I have said" Cornelia said, as she kneeled before the drone's lent and looked directly at it. Using her telekinesis, Cornelia started to crunch the drone. "I don't want creeps looking after my sister." and as she clenched her fist, the machine was reduced to nothing more than a ball of fuming metal and cables.

"So what do we do now?" the blonde asked, still kneeled before the broken machine. How much time has that thing been watching over her family? How much did it see? "I mean, regarding everything." She rose and looked at the other four girls. "The Doomstads, Riddle, Khor… all that."

All of them looked at Will. Even now, they thought of her like the one with the best judgment. Not because she was their strategist, or because some living piece of jewelry hanged from her neck. It was because she was their friend, and because she was the one that had confronted Riddle.

The redhead sighed. "I have been thinking about what my mom told me. About how you can understand someone, but not justify what they do with that understanding. And from my point of view, what those people had done isn't justifiable. And the same can be said about Kandrakar or CHYKN… but," she looked at the Heart "I want to protect my home, and avenge the people that they have hurt; not for Kandrakar, but for myself. I know it's not as easy as it was when we fought other times, but… I want to try. Because we aren't monsters, or a cancer, but that's my opinion. I ask for yours."

"If those idiots want to lay a hand on my sister, then they will have to get through me first." Cornelia stated.

"You know that you can count me in, Will" Hay Lin said in her usual cheering voice. Sephiria's image, sword in hand flashed in her mind, followed by Mr. Endarno's. She just had an idea…

"I may not be the brightest bulb out there" Irma said. "But I know that none of us is the bad guy of this situation, even if that Riddle or Doomstad aren't either. And besides, I want a rematch with that suit wearing arrogant man."

That only left Taranee to speak. The black girl looked at her friends and sighed. "You know, it's weird. All my life I thought, ' _Hey, it's easy. There are good people and bad people_ '. I never thought that bad people could have every reason to be bad, or that they could have been good at some point. I didn't think that a good person could do something bad."

She looked at them, and smiled. "It's just… that everything is like falling apart. But you aren't. If there is something in this world, or in this universe that I can call good… that's you, guys. I know that what my mother did was a bad thing, and I won't try to say that she was right, because she wasn't. I won't try to say that I am good because I'm not. But maybe if I keep walking" she went to the others and extended her arm. "Maybe I can rebuild something of what my mother broke and understand Danny's motives… and maybe ask for Nigel's forgiveness when everything is done. If I walk with you. Together."

One by one, each one of the girls extended their arms and met Taranee's; their hands all bond together. Because even in the strongest of storms, the people that really care about you will stand by your side. It doesn't matter how you look, or who you are. They will be there for you. Because, after all, that's how a friend works.

"It's decided then." Will said, smiling to her friends. "Next time we counterattack, and we do it with everything we've got. Even if it's risky, we have to give our hundred percent, or we won't win"

The other four girls looked at Will in agreement. If they couldn't risk touching the Dragons again, maybe there were other ways to use the full extent of their powers without losing their humanity. Ideas began to form in the minds of each girl, but this wasn't the time for planning or scheming. All of them knew that.

"Come on, Taranee; we will walk you home." Will said.

"Thanks." Taranee said, her voice sounding like a sob.

Cornelia looked at Matt, and she gave her a nod. "Huggles and I will patrol the area. If more of these drones show up, I will blow then up into nothingness, I promise."

And so, the Guardians left the underdeveloped Heart of Earth in the Regents' care, and as they went out, Matt Olsen shifted into his Regent form and took flight to the skies of Heatherfield.

* * *

 ** _Cook residence_**

"I know that it's a conflict of interests, Tom, but it's my daughter!" Lionel Cook, Taranee's and Peter's father, yelled on the hone as he spoke with Tom Lair, chief of Heatherfield's police and father of Irma… and also a good friend of Lionel. "Please, just… just look for her, okay?" Lionel said and hanged the phone. This was madness. His wife and his son arrested; for murdering, clue manipulation, extortion… he didn't remember half of the words Tom had told him. And Taranee was nowhere to be seen. God, what the hell was going on?

"Dad?" sounded a weak voice.

Turning to the door, Lionel saw Taranee in front of it, her four best friends behind her. Not making any question, the big man ran to his daughter an enveloped her in his arms. He was hugging her so tightly that he didn't notice how Taranee's feet didn't reach the floor anymore.

"I'm home" the dark skinned girl said.

Her father hugged her even more tightly. "I was so worried! Taranee, your mother, and… and Peter! Oh God, I'm so glad you are well… Where have you been?"

Tears started to drop from the big man's eyes. From the doorframe, the other four members of WITCH looked in silence. It was weird seeing a man like Lionel Cook cry. Little by little, all four of them dispersed, and Will closed the door of the house without making any noise. Father and daughter needed to spend time alone. Too many things to speak off, too many things to cry for.

"It's a long story dad" Taranee said, as tears started to run down her cheeks to. The Guardian of Fire sobbed. "It's a long story."

 _We're all stories, in the end._ Steven Moffat.

* * *

 **Author Notes: There we go, storm of feels. I had another scene written over there, but I think that is better to leave it for the next Riddle Arc chapter. This was "The Other Side of the Story" a chapter that finally brings to an end the 'darkening' of Kandrakar and the 'good guys' in general. Yes, CHYKN fucked up bad in the past, and yes Folkner (who also was part of the Ragorlang arc in the comics) won. Because people like Folkner tend to win in real life. And yes, that was Nerissa's start to the dark side; and both antagonist of the flashback have been written to represent the two halves of what she would become. Tecla is Nerissa's tragic part, the one that needs energy and power as an addict needs drugs. Folkner is Nerissa's manipulative part, the one that looks only for him and that uses dirty tricks (glamour, lies…) in order to make everyone to dance in his palm. One little detail that I included is that (unlike WITCH) CHYKN didn't use their telepathy in battle in order for coordination. Nerissa gave the orders aloud and the others followed. It's meant to represent that they weren't as close as WITCH is.**

 **As for Kandrakar, yes they committed genocide. The Purges of Earth are basically a worldwide version of the Holocaust, and it's what A'heres is trying to do again, this time against the whole human race. Because an organization as powerful, baste and ancient as Kandrakar has to have some skeletons in their count. Also, this is my explanation as to why, at least in the cartoon-verse, Earth and Kandrakar seem to be so distanced in comparison with other worlds and to why there aren't more sorcerers or magical creatures on Earth. And so, after this revelation the girls began their counterattack. They know that their side is not all "smiles and roses" and they understand that the other side is not all "evil laughs and spikes"; but they are going to fight, because they have something they believe in and that it's as worthy fighting for as is avenging your wife or helping humanity to upgrade. And that's their loved ones.**

 **Having said that, next chapter we go back to Meridian in the Third Meridian Interlude: The Women inside the Jewel (working title). Asking yourself what happened to Nerissa inside her imaginary world after the glimpse we had in chapter 2? Asking yourself why Elyon is acting the way she is acting? Or maybe how Julian's death has affected Caleb and the others? Find out in December!**

 **Until then, have pleasant days and nights, my dear readers.**


	13. Chapter 13: Third Meridian Interlude

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH, it's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **Author Notes: Well, my dear readers. Welcome to THE chapter. Since the moment I started this fic, this is one of the moments that I was more looking up to. If someone asked me to present them with only one chapter of the fic, I will show them this one. Welcome where a lot of secrets are unveiled; the Third Meridian Interlude: The Women inside the Jewel. Also, a little warning for the chapter in general, there are going to be some DARK AND WEIRD scenes. And when I mean DARK AND WEIRD, I mean violent, sexually uncomfortable and ratter nihilistic, especially in the second part of the chapter; so you have been WARNED. Also, I think that this is going to be the largest chapter of the fic, so read at peace.**

 **So, after this little paragraph, let's head onto the chapter. As always, enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter thirteen

Third Meridian Interlude

The Women inside the Jewel

* * *

 _In such disbelief, I thought I was asleep when I met you. My heart liquefied and I sighed 'Oh, this must be a dream!' If I forget to set the alarm and sleep on through the dawn don't remind me. I'd rather be dreaming of someone than living alone!_ Majestic; by Wax Fang.

* * *

 ** _The world of Meridian (Metamoor)_**

 ** _The City of Lannion_**

North, far at north in Meridian, lies a silent city that spends its nights enveloped in fog. Its name is Lannion, the City of the Priest; the whole town nothing but a great, gigantic church and mausoleum; populated only by the religious and the corpses of the greatest meridianites. The corpses of many Queens and great warriors of the past lay here, in rest. Rotting and producing worms even today.

From this city, the Archbishopric controls and organizes the churches, all scattered around Meridian. The Archbishopric answers only to two powers; and those are the Light (represented by the pantheon of deities venerated in Meridian) and the Queen, who they recognize as a living manifestation of the divine's will. And so, when Phobos came to power, no priest recognized his reign. So Phobos destroyed the main building of Lannion and closed the gates of the city to the rest of Meridian, and let the Archbishopric to starve to death. Many men and women of faith died during the thirteen years of tyranny. After the second deposing of the tyrant, Elyon had arranged for the construction of a new brand Grand Cathedral in the place were the main building used to stand. The cathedral is composed entirely of white marble; and the tombs of the fallen during the Rebellion rest here. And today, in the day of its inauguration, after so many years the Cathedral is housing a procession; and the city of Lannion welcomes another dead man. A scene displays in the city, and is seen from above, as if some anonymous spectator watches it from afar.

People clad in white robes adorning the streets, the procession walks between two silent and mournful crowds, in a very similar way to a parade of the past. But nothing happy is celebrated here. The group that marches in the cathedral's direction is lead by an opened coffin. Inside the coffin, the dead body of Julian, father of Caleb, adorned by white lilies. Carrying the coffin, the son, Caleb. Even now, he continues to fight the tears back. At his side is Vathek, and behind them are Rhouglar, father of the late Aldarn and also Drake; the coffin carried by the four of them.

Behind the four carriers; Raythor, Tynar, Isolde, Gorlois, Ban, Bors and the small forms of Blunk, his mother and other members of the Passling folk walk at the top of the procession; sadness in their faces as they march. At the entrance of the Cathedral, Queen Elyon awaits, Alborn and Irvine by her side. All of them clad in white, the procession enters the cathedral, were the nine members that form the Archbishopric await. The four carriers deposit the coffin over a prepared spot for it, and now everyone can see the body of the fallen soldier. The beard is clean, the expression peaceful. This is a face that someone that had died in peace. And yet, how much sorrow its sight brings to the hearts of the people that is here.

Caleb takes a place at the Queen's side, the two of them the only ones distanced from the rest of the crowd. The Head of the Archbishopric starts to talk, and Elyon can recognize some aspects of Christianity mixed with Meridian's own old and pagan religion. No one is really listening to the man, though. They are focused in the dead man in front of them, and in their own thoughts. In the crowd, Drake notes how a hand searches for his, and not knowing why, he takes it. And so his and Isolde's hands end together. Drake wants to hurry to his friend's side, but he doubts that he could do anything. Isolde, always strong Isolde, she doesn't know what to do. If someone died during the days of the Rebellion; she would search for the culprit and impale him herself. But now the culprit is gone, and she really doubts that she could do anything against him. Raythor blames himself for the sheer stupidity of letting Phobos unrestrained, even if he didn't have any more power within himself. Vathek looks ahead and feels transported again to that camp, when the Rebellion wasn't still a rebellion, and he had promised a boy that he would take care of him in his father's name. How much he had failed.

As for Caleb, even he doesn't know what to think; his mind in turmoil of different thoughts, his heart to broken to do anything. He just waits there, like a statue, looking at his father's dead body. He seems just like asleep, as if he was going to wake up any moment now, look at all the presents in disbelief and crack some old joke. But no, nothing of that is happening. The only thing that remains is his father's dead body.

When the Head of the Archbishopric end his speech, is Elyon's turn. This time, there is no great speech, not bombastic sounds and words. Only a serene sentence leaves her lips. "Respect and honor the dead."

After that, the young Queen blows a little air from her palm into the coffin's direction, and the marble of the platform grows and envelops it, transforming the corpse in a memorial of white and immaculate marble with Julian's form. After it's done, Caleb approaches the place where his father will sleep until the end of time and put's something in his hand. Elyon takes notice of it, it's the Mage's ring, the same ring that Nerissa used to fold and that, years ago, Julian used to marry her.

The funeral ends, and the procession scatters. People return to their homes, and the Archbishopric is left alone in their new cathedral. As the ones heading for the capital return to the caravan that will carry them back home, Caleb is the last one that Elyon sees abandoning the tomb and memorial. The young man seems broken, not even Aldarn's death affected him like this. Now, he has no more family, and his expressions and body language show it. With no one around, Elyon Escanor looks again at the former Rebel Leader, and she can see the broken soul of the young man in his green eyes; the same green eyes as _her_. And she smiles cruelly.

The scene is closed by a curtain, and whoever was watching doesn't watch anymore. At top of that curtain, directing the piece of theatrical art, four voices can be heard laughing at the boy's expense.

 ** _"The storm is coming"_**

* * *

 ** _The Capital_**

In Julian and Caleb's house; the young commander looked at the place that has seen him grow and his father mature. He looked at the furniture, the windows and the bed of his father's room. Going to his father's closet, Caleb started to search, and in the end, he pulled out a sword. Not as big as the one Julian used normally, but big enough. The young man smiled at the fact that his father didn't lose the habit of keeping a weapon near even in times of peace. He held the weapon as strong as he could.

And in an instant, he delivered a powerful blow to the closet, breaking it. Next one was the desk, and then the window, the glass shattering into a thousand tiny shards. Then was the bed's turn; and as it broke into a pile of broken and flying scraps of wood; Caleb screamed. Not in anger, or physical pain; but of pure impotence. He kept hitting and hitting everything around him, every inanimate object around while shrieking his lungs out. In the end he felt to his knees, powerless and started to simply cry. He tossed the sword to his side, and the weapon hit the floor with a loud clang.

He then sat in the ground. " _Someone has to pay!_ " shouted a voice inside his head. Yes, Caleb was aware of that fact. But where to find Phobos? And even if he found him, what could he do? Tracker, or whatever _thing_ he had transformed into was with him. Also, Cedric and Miranda were still at large, doing god knows what. He didn't have anything, anything at all. Just his pure rage, just his pure despair. The world was falling apart, it was like some really cruel child had taken the reins of life and had decided to ruin everything around him.

Sitting on the ground, his eyes caught a glimpse of something under the now broken bed. Extending an arm from his position, he searched for the thing that had caught his attention. From under the bed's remnants he pulled out an ornamented box. Opening it, he found a jewel of an aquamarine tone inside it. Taking it from the box, he held it in front of his eyes. He remembered this thing; it was the jewel from Queen Weira's crown, the one his mother had used to strip Elyon of her powers… and that served as her prison since Cedric's defeat at the Guardians' hands. According to Elyon and Cornelia, Nerissa was living inside the jewel not knowing that she was imprisoned, living a fantasy in which all her dreams of universal conquest had come true. For a moment, Caleb thought about how his mother could feel if she knew about what was transpiring beyond her tiny perfect world. What if she learnt about Julian's demise? A part of him, for a brief moment, hoped that she could cry… but no, his mother was never one to cry for the dead. If she was here, she would probably start an overcomplicated plan to steal Julian from death, same that she had done with Cassidy.

"It's all your fault." he spat to the jewel. Of course he really knew that it wasn't his mother's fault directly, but Nerissa had committed many sins, and he needed someone to blame. He threw the jewel against a wall with anger and saw how it bounced back from it and fell to the floor with a timid sound. He then got up and decided that it was time to leave. Drake, Gorlois and the others would probably look for him, and he really wasn't in the mood for a talk. What he needed right now was loneliness, and he couldn't find it here.

So the young commander left the room, letting the jewel between the debris, unable to notice the little crack in its surface, or knowing about the entire universe that was alive inside of it, all of it product of his mother's imagination…

* * *

 ** _Inside the jewel_**

 ** _Nerissa's perfect dream world._**

The sounds of cries echoed through the halls. It weren't cries of sadness or anger, but the incessant cries of a newborn infant. In one of those halls, Nerissa and Julian walked inpatient in circles in front of a door. Leaning against a wall was Cassidy, quite amused by the spectacle. "You two should relax a little."

Woman and man halted in an instant and looked at the redhead woman at the same time. "We can't relax, we are going to be grandparents!" they yelled at the same time, which made Cassidy laugh.

After a few more minutes, a woman clothed in white appeared by the door, and looking at the three of them, she bowed in respect. "You may pass now."

The insides of the room were lighted as by a heavenly light. Inside, Caleb was knelt at a bed's side; and the blonde form of Cornelia rested in it, a little bundle in her arms. As Nerissa, Julian and Cassidy approached the couple, Caleb rose and his father went to him, hugging and congratulating the young man. Cornelia's heart warmed at this sight, and then she looked at the two women standing in front of her.

"Well, don't you want to meet your grandson?" the blonde asked soft and weakly. It was clear that, even with all the improvements that Nerissa had done to the system that ruled over the Infinite Dimensions, giving birth was still hard for a woman.

Nerissa approached the blonde slowly. "Grandson?" asked the woman, as she titled her head and looked at the bundle. Turning it around to let Nerissa see, the bundle turned out to be a little baby boy, all wrapped in white blankets. He had his eyes closed, but the baby was making funny gestures with his mouth and face. Even with the head covered, Nerissa could see little traces of blond hair in it; the same as his mother.

Nerissa noted Cassidy to lean in her back and peep over her shoulder. "Oh my God! He is adorable!"

"Cassidy!" said Nerissa in soft tone. "Interior's voice!"

"Sorry, sorry…" muttered the woman. "Oh my God, he is adorable…" Cassidy whispered.

Nerissa chuckled, and tickled the baby boy's nose, which made him to shake his head in a little annoyance an mutter some guttural sounds. Nerissa smiled at this. "Have you already thought of a name?" Nerissa asked Cornelia.

Cornelia shook her head. "Not yet. I have some ideas, but it's hard to decide."

Nerissa stroked the new mother's head. "Well, if you need any help, feel free to ask me."

"Wait" Caleb interrupted. "I don't have a word in this, do I?"

"When you are the one to carry a child for nine months, you will be the one to talk" Cornelia said, smirking. "But don't worry, Nerissa. I know that whatever name is chosen for him, he will be the best child ever. I mean, after all he is your grandson."

Nerissa smiled and put a hand over her daughter-in-law's shoulder. "Thank you, Cornelia. But don't take credit from yourself. I know that you will be an incredible mother."

"Ehem!" Caleb hawked.

"Oh, did you get a cold, my dear?" Cornelia asked Caleb, to which her husband rolled his eyes.

Nerissa chuckled again, and this time she couldn't suppress a laugh. In the end, the five of them were laughing, while the little baby slept peacefully. Nerissa looked at the picture that was in front of her. Grandmother, she was a grandmother. Finally, after all the sacrifices, after all the schemes and plots; finally she had gotten her deserved happy ending. Finally she had a family, her caring Cassidy, a faithful husband, a loving son; and now a perfect daughter-in-law and also a perfect grandchild.

Finally she had what she deserved. Finally a perfect life.

After her conquest of the Infinite Dimensions with the help of the elemental forms of the Guardians, Nerissa had done as promised; unite the worlds into one single entity with loyalty only to her. Only united as one, with only one true and perfect leader, could the different realms put their differences away and live peacefully. Once everyone had understood that, she and her family had move to Kandrakar, where with pleasure, Himerish had given up his position as Oracle to her. Finally the bald, stupid fool saw the reason behind her actions. Forty damned years had it taken to him to realize! But now all was good, she was in charge, and the Fortress of Light had been rebuilt as her home, only for her, her son, Cornelia, Julian and Cassidy. Of course, the Tower of Mists had to be emptied from criminals; but aside from that? Everything was great. The Fortress had been redesigned in a more modern way and now raised bigger than ever atop the clouds. Statues of Nerissa were build in decoration of the Fortress, and the great Hall that held the former generations of Guardians now held only images of her conquest. Her alongside the Knights of Vengeance, giving those poor souls a last chance to battle; alongside the Knights of Destruction, holding back Kandrakar's resistance, alongside her companions in CHYKN (she had to admit that Yan Lin's granddaughter was pretty imaginative with acronysms), alongside the Guardians in elemental forms and finally alongside her family.

And so, as she enjoyed the gifts and blessings of every leader of a world; as she enjoyed Julian's and Cassidy's petting at night when they warmed her bed; she let the days, weeks, months and years to pass. And Nerissa Crossnic was happy.

* * *

 ** _Nine years later_**

"There is something wrong in grandpa's study" said a little blond kid with green eyes. This child was named Alexander Crossnic Hale, and he was the son of Caleb and Cornelia. Of course that meant that he was the grandchild of the universe's mistress, and so nothing had been lacking since birth. The best teacher (his grandmother, of course) at his disposal, he learnt quick and fast, his locks of golden hair growing as he did. Clad in a pure white robe, Alexander was looking at the door of Julian's study in Kandrakar, from where his grandfather administrated a fair portion of the Infinite Dimensions. Of course, even with all her power, Nerissa bothered only with the most central worlds and left the others to her assistants. Cornelia's friends had proven a good help, and so did her little sister Lillian, when she wasn't playing with her nephew, of course.

"It really is?" Nerissa asked the boy. They were walking to the Library when Alexander had suddenly stopped in front of the door, and now he was looking at it almost immobile, like some sort of statue. Nerissa held her hand to the doorknob, but then a voice stopped her.

"Well, look at this! Two of my five favorite people paying me a visit!" Julian appeared practically out of nowhere, and Nerissa put her hand down.

"Hello, my dear." Nerissa greeted her husband.

"Hello grandpa!" Alexander greeted with a smile as Julian picked him from the floor. "There is something wrong in your study!" the boy said as he pressed the man's cheeks with both hands.

"Ith weally ish?" Julian said comically; unable to speak properly due to his grandchild's grip. He put Alexander back in the ground, and looked at Nerissa. "Isn't the kid a perceptive one?"

"Is there really something wrong in there?" Nerissa asked, now sounding serious.

"Nothing, really." Julian calmed her. "Just a crack in one of the walls; I will fix it in an instant. By the way…" Julian got close to Nerissa and spoke near her. "Cornelia said that everything is prepared for Alexander's practice."

"Lovely" the black haired woman answered and kissed the man. "Remember to be ready to receive the messengers from our colonies in Aridia."

"Have I ever failed you?" Julian asked as Nerissa held her grandchild's hand in hers and started to walk away.

"You made such convincing arguments…" Nerissa said, exhibiting a playful smile. "Say good bye to grandpa, Alexander!"

"Bye grandpa!" Alexander said while looking back and waving his hand.

"Good bye, grandson" Julian waved back. Then, as both Nerissa and Alexander disappeared from sight by turning around a corner, he opened the door and entered his study. His face became a cold, emotionless and inhuman one.

 _Something is wrong. Outside, outside. Something is wrong. Must fix it, fix it, fix it. She must not find out! Something must be done, something must be done! Strengthen the Dream!_

* * *

 ** _Five years later_**

"Happy Fourteenth Birthday Alexander!" a crowd full of people cheering in the Grand Mess Hall of the fortress. A large able laid, and in it many dishes, presided by an over-the-top cherry cake. Even if he had just turned fourteen, Alexander was still spoiled by his relatives, especially by her grandmother and grandfather.

Now practically a teenager, Alexander had grown to be a perfectly handsome young lad. His blonde hair, reminiscent of his mother's, had grown considerably, almost reaching the end of his neck. Due to the fact that he asked constantly for Julian's and Caleb's training, his body was quite toned, his muscles defined, but not buffed. His face the one of an angel and most of the time sporting a calm smirk, his green eyes brilliant as Nerissa's; it really made him an angelical boy. His calm and collected demeanor helped it, though. The boy would expend entire hours in the Grand Library, reading and learning after his training sessions. Truly a paragon, a living symbol of what Nerissa had made the universe be.

The hall housed the two last generations of Guardians (plus Caleb, Julian and Lillian; of course), each one occupying one part of the table, as Alexander presided. "Woohoo! Party time!" Cassidy's and Irma's voices echoed through the hall, as the two of them extended their arms to the heavens. "And look at how pretty and big has little Alex become!"

"Thank you, Aunt Cassidy, Aunt Irma." Alexander thanked politely. There was nothing so soft and kind in this whole universe as him. Everyone loved him; everyone kneeled before him, but instead of how they had done out of fear before monsters like Phobos, or out of pure necessity before incompetents as Himerish or that little inexperienced excuse of a ruler that Elyon was, they kneeled before him out of admiration.

Speaking about Elyon, she hadn't seen the young ruler of Meridian since she freed her from the jewel as she had done with the others. Of course, it was comprehensible that she would be a bit bitter about the entire 'being imprisoned in a jewel' thing… but if someone as prideful as Kadma had forgotten her and finally acknowledged Nerissa's superiority, then Elyon should be grateful too. Then again, she was just a child, and Meridian had ended quite damnaged after Phobos hold on the throne once again, so it was natural for her to being busy… Well, she decided that those were thoughts for another time, when her grandson wasn't cutting cake for the guests and there wasn't another game of chess to play with Will.

After the birthday party, as all the leftovers and garbage cleaned itself; Nerissa took Cornelia and talked to her. "I know that she is busy and all, but that best friend of yours could take a little time over and come here to meet your son." Nerissa whispered for only Cornelia to hear.

The blonde looked at her with a funny expression, as if Nerissa was making a joke. "What are you talking about?" the blonde asked. "Will is right here." she said pointing to the redhead, now involved into a conversation with Yan Lin and Hay Lin. It had to be fun, because they were laughing.

Nerissa raised an eyebrow, surprised at her daughter-in-law's remark. "No, I mean Elyon. Straw blond hair, quite sort for a girl her age… Ruler of Meridian?" Nerissa stopped speaking as she saw her daughter-in-law's face. Cornelia looked at Nerissa puzzled now. The smile faded in a mere blink of an eye, and the blonde titled her head in confusion.

"Who is Elyon?"

* * *

 ** _One year later_**

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. It didn't matter where she looked; Nerissa was unable to find anything regarding Elyon. It was as if she hadn't existed at all! There was nothing in the Grand Library, and no one seemed to remember. She could ask to her son, but something was telling her not to. Even if happy, Nerissa still was an intelligent and cunning woman. So there she was, sitting at one of the tables of the Grand Library, trying to find something about the Light of Meridian, to no avail. She didn't appear in any book! Not even in the records of Phobos' downfall! Where the hell had everything regarding her go?!

"What are you reading?" the voice of Alexander took her from her thoughts.

Jumping a little, Nerissa looked at her grandson. Another year had passed, and there he was, now fifteen, as handsome as ever. "Oh, is nothing, just a…" Nerissa halted and looked at Alexander. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course" he answered. "From whom I must keep it?"

"From everyone." the black haired woman answered.

Alexander frowned, and Nerissa knew why. Normally, his grandmother didn't have secrets from anyone. Especially if those were Cassidy, his grandfather or father. After a few seconds, the frown disappeared and Alexander reassumed his usual calm demeanor. "I think that I can. What would that secret be?"

Ah, always so eager to help and care about others… Nerissa smiled. "I'm searching information about a woman named Elyon Brown; or probably Elyon Escanor."

"Aren't the Escanors the late household of Meridian? Is she maybe an ancestor of Phobos, or…?"

"See, there it is!" Nerissa said. "You don't know who she is, no one does!"

"Who is she, exactly?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Elyon Brown" Nerissa explained. "She is, or it seems was, the Light of Meridian, the natural holder of that world's Heart, and Phobos' younger sister. When he seized the throne I made sure that she was brought to Earth, and…"

"But Prince Phobos never had any sister." Alexander cut in, quite surprised. "Or at least that's what the records say, and what mother and father had told me when retelling Meridian's liberation. That was the primal reason from Phobos' ascension."

"Then how in the name of everything the Rebellion triumphed?!" Nerissa exclaimed, quite disturbed. "And what was Phobos after if there wasn't any Heart of Meridian?"

Alexander opened his mouth as to say something, but then he closed it. "I don't… really know. That's strange."

"Yes, yes it is." Nerissa agreed. "And what's most troubling is that this Elyon befriended your mother in Earth. They were best friends; hell they acted like sisters!"

"Okay, grandma, you need to relax a little." Alexander said, putting his hands over Nerissa's shoulders. "Maybe get some sleep? I think that resting could clear your mind a little."

Nerissa breathed deeply. "True; perhaps a calmer mind will solve this puzzle better."

"Then, come on grandma. I will prepare you some chamomile tea. Just like you like it." Alexander said, and took Nerissa from her books and notes. He really was someone that the black-haired woman could count in, and probably the only one in the universe able to bring her out of research. Sometimes Nerissa thought that she didn't deserve him… but that was a ridiculous thought.

 _The Dream! Failures in the Dream! The Dreamer! Must prevent her from finding out! The Boy, use the Boy… No! Don't use the Boy! He isn't part of the Dream anymore!_

* * *

 ** _Five years later_**

Time was starting to feel so light and meaningless. If a single Heart can maintain a human being alive for so long that said being can last millennia; then the power of all the Hearts that Nerissa had assembled, plus the power of an Oracle that she held had made her practically immortal. And that meant that her mind must be acclimatizing to it; making weeks felt like hours, months like days and years like months. It had reached a point where Nerissa and her family were starting to refer to 'decade' as 'year'.

But that wasn't what troubled Nerissa's mind. Even after half a decade, there wasn't any proof about Elyon existence. Even more, the little evidence that she had about that something was wrong had been, somehow, erased! Years ago, Alexander couldn't find an answer to her question about how the rebellion triumphed. But now, there it was, written over everything that could be written in! And the answer was quite undeniable too. What was that answer? Well, herself of course, Nerissa. While posing as the Mage in order to hide from Kandrakar's hypocritical eyes, she had hidden the Heart of Meridian from Phobos, and the Guardians in coalition with the rebellion had stopped him before he could found the Infinite City and raid in it with his minions' help…

"But that wasn't how it happened." Nerissa answered, whispering. Lately she had the strange sensation that someone had been spying on her, looking at her at every moment. But that wasn't possible! No one in this universe moved a finger without her permission, or her family's! Her family's…

No, no, no. What was she thinking? Her family loved her, everyone loved her. It was impossible that some of them could do something against her! " _Impossible…_ " Nerissa thought. For very long, deception and masquerades had been her weapons. Perhaps someone was using them against her? Someone who _DARED_ to pass as her family? Then who?

Walking through the halls, she called for Caleb. Nerissa asked her beloved son if he remembered about his days as leader of the Rebellion in Meridian. Of course, Caleb answered in affirmation. He told her the same story that Alexander had told before. Then she made a risky move.

"What about the Knights of Vengeance? Or the Knights of Destruction? Have you heard of all of them?" Nerissa asked Caleb.

The brown haired man seemed to think a little, but then answered. "Of course; both of them were groups formed by evil creatures that wised nothing but harm to the people of the universe." Caleb answered sincerely.

"Do you remember who commanded them?" Nerissa asked slowly. Depending on his answer, she could act in a way or in another.

Caleb pondered for a moment. "I don't remember who exactly…" the former rebellious young man answered to his mother's distress. "I suppose that it was some filthy man with delusions of grandeur, but you never told me. Good luck that by that time you were in power of the Heart of Meridian and you could dispatch of the first group fast and aid the Guardians and your old friend Kadma with the second." Caleb smiled at her. "But why I'm telling this to you? You already know of it, I mean, you were there, after all!"

"Yes" Nerissa answered, putting on her best fake smile. "Yes I was."

After that, Caleb hugged her mother and went away. As soon as Caleb get out of her sight, Nerissa teleported immediately to the Hall of Memories, where the image of the First Oracle N'ghala had been replaced with her own. There, Nerissa walked the Hall, and looked at the images decorating it. They had changed.

Not so long ago (well, a couple of decades but that was becoming short amount of time by her new immortal standards) the Hall had been redecorated with images of her universal conquest. The images of her ascension were still there, but they had been changed, replaced, for other ones.

The tale was still the same, of course. A woman unjustly imprisoned; that escapes her prison and takes refuge in Meridian. But there the story began to diverge. Instead of killing the Mage and assuming her image, the ancient one died naturally, and handled her guise and position to Nerissa, her apprentice, whom she had loved as a daughter. Instead of her reuniting the Knights of Vengeance and creating the Knights of Destruction; Nerissa saw how a shadowy figure did it all, and how she was the one to rose to fight against it, and free the Infinite Dimensions and unite them in a great, peaceful kingdom with her as its ruler.

So now there were, apparently, two versions for her ascension. One was the one she just had witnessed in the walls, and the other one was the one she called 'original' in her head; the one in which she had killed and supplanted the original Mage, made Weira to transform Phobos into the tyrant he ended up being... in which she had lead the Knights of Vengeance in secret, tricked Elyon into handing the Heart of Meridian to her, in which she had created the Knights of Destruction and used them to restore her and her former companions' youth. In which she had been momentarily taken out of the picture by Phobos... and in which she had the last laugh as she united the universe by controlling WITCH's elemental forms.

Nerissa couldn't avoid thinking on how much more pleasant the first one seemed in comparison with the second. And how much warmer seemed her tale in the wall; in comparison with her tale in her memories… Was the tale in her memories even real? There wasn't any proof of its reality, the same way that there wasn't any proof about Elyon's existence. Perhaps… perhaps… perhaps neither that reality nor Elyon Escanor had been real all along. Perhaps they were some creations of her mind, due to the stress derivated of ruling an entire universe. After all she had been always a woman of imagination and inventive. Imagination and inventive… imagination and inventive… imagination and inventive… always so intelligent… _dreams_ …

 _The Dreamer! She is going to find out! Quick, reorganize! Move! Rearrange! Change the variables once again! Use the Heart! Use the Body too!_

"Remembering old memories?" asked a voice full of warmness. Nerissa turned around from the images and Cassidy appeared in front of her, as beautiful as ever, in a brilliant dress that accentuated her figure a little too much. Not that Nerissa complained, in fact, she welcomed it. But of course her Cassidy was _MUCH MORE_ than simple eye candy. Caring, funny, optimistic, sarcastic, childless, and mature; all of them was her Cassidy, truly a spark of energy that could still shine in the darkest of places.

"More or less." Nerissa answered, not answering at all.

"You always talk in Riddles, Rissy." Cassidy said, smirking.

"And you always call me those nicknames of yours." Nerissa said back. "Really Cassidy, it has been forty years. You should have found out other forms of calling me than those."

Cassidy moved as fast as she could and embraced Nerissa around the waist. She looked her face to face. "What about I call you Love?"

Nerissa smiled from the bottom of her heart. "Now that's a nickname that I like."

And the two women kissed. It was a long, prolonged and actually pretty passionate kiss. Nerissa tried to broke it a few times, but Cassidy just pulled her tighter to herself. In the end, Nerissa yielded and she gave out to the exchange of vocal fluids. When the kiss finished, Cassidy took Nerissa by the hand and pulled her around the Hall. "Come!" the former Water Guardian said to her. "I want you to see my favorite one!"

Cassidy dragged her in front of a picture in the Hall of Memories. It depicted the two of them, alongside Cassidy's mother. Cassidy was hugging her mother, both with tears in their eyes; and Nerissa waited patiently a little distanced from the pair, wipping a lonely tear of happiness from her cheek. The black haired woman knew to which moment that image belonged to: to when she had brought Cassidy from the dead, giving her the life that fate had denied her.

"You know" Cassidy spoke "I think that I will never thank you enough for what you have given me."

"Cassidy..." Nerissa said. They had been through this so many times, but the redhead never tired of it.

"No, let me say it." Cassidy cut her. "I thought that I could never see my mother again, that I could never touch her again. And then you appeared, bringing me back after that accident that took my life and kept me apart from everyone for so long... Everytime I think about what I have missed... Yan Lin's baby; your baby!"

Cassidy laughed a little, then the laughter died. "And you just... gave me all that and more. Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Daily." Nerissa answered.

"Well, I will change it to an hour basis." Cassidy retorted. And the two of them kissed again.

As the kiss went on, Nerissa could heard footsteps approaching and then stopping. But she didn't bother looking. As Cassidy held her tighter and Nerissa's bust pressed against the former Water Guardian's; the black haired woman's hands started to descent through the back of her lover, until reaching her ass and groping it, which made Cassidy to broke the kiss and giggle.

Cassidy started to deliver little kisses onto Nerissa's neck, and the black haired woman held Cassidy even tighter, whispering into her ear. "We are not alone."

Cassidy stopped and looked around. From the sidelines Julian was watching them, the most amused of expressions in his face. "Please, don't stop just for me." the bearded man said. "It was quite the spectacle from here."

"Voyeurism!" Cassidy shouted to Julian, pointing to him with an accuser finger.

Nerissa held a hand to her mouth and restrained a laugh. "Well, every man has that strange fantasy of two women making out…"

"You two are conscious about the fact that I have seen both of you naked, and made love to, right?" Julian complained. "And that kind of fantasy is proper of young adolescent boys, not grown up men like me."

"I don't know if that makes the thing better or worse." Nerissa stated. "Maybe you have some sort of regression, and you are behaving like a teenager? I suppose there weren't very much ladies in Meridian to peep on as in Earth."

"There were ladies" Julian said, getting close to Nerissa and caressing her cheek. He landed a kiss in her lips. "But no one was like you. There will never be."

Then Cassidy embraced Nerissa from behind in a surprise movement, holding her away from Julian. "No, no; you won't get her. This is a _girls'_ moment, so get out of here, _boy_." Cassidy said putting a very possessive tone in her words.

"Cassidy… I told you already; I love you both." Nerissa said, fighting the grip without fighting at all.

"Well, maybe I am having a regression to my teenage years too." Cassidy complained, smiling happily as she kept Nerissa close.

"Then, why don't we take this to our usual solving room?" Nerissa asked, and in a moment Nerissa's eyes flared green, and the three of them were teleported to their shared room, landing in their soft bed. Magic is a really useful advantage at the hour of having sex. You can make your partner's and your clothes disappear in an instant, you can strengthen your stamina or you physical perception… Nerissa knew that there were people who used magic for more… _kinky stuff_. There were some books in the Grand Library that detailed some… extreme and weird performance with the arts that Nerissa was starting to call 'sex magic'. Dismemberments, mutilations, torture… and the people in the pages looked so alive, so happy, so fucking aroused… the image of a man smiling in ecstasy with his arms severed… it was disturbing.

But none of those mattered. The only thing that mattered was that utopia. Her utopia. It wasn't a golden castle in the sky, neither the whole universe. Her utopia was this, after so many years, what she desired… Her husband, her Julian, the father of her son; him licking her breasts while getting inside her with his rod; his muscled body, strong thanks to a life of battle and an imprisonment in the mines clashes with hers, and the pleasure envelops her. His beard tickled her as he sucked in her breast as an infant… and Nerissa Crossnic was happy.

Her lover, her Cassidy, her companion in one hundred battles, the love that fate denied her; there she is too, licking her earlobes and pressing her breasts into Nerissa's back, a playful smile in her face. It's almost as they had gone back in time to that cave in Shell Beach, where they had kissed for the first time, were they had confessed their mutual love and held it in secret. The breath of the former Water Guardian felt warm, and her kisses were wet. Nerissa could feel how it wasn't the only thing wet about Cassidy… and Nerissa Crossnic was happy.

And as the orgasms approached slowly, building like a magnificent explosion; Nerissa cried out of pleasure and joy. Of course she was the heroine of this story! Of course that other course of events was nothing but her imagination! After all, this was everything she had worked for. This was everything she had wanted! This natural, pure and magnificent _LOVE_!

And so, Nerissa moaned in her orgasm as Julian trusted one final time, and Cassidy sparkled in pleasure too. Of course it had been her imagination! She was a hero, a paragon, perfection clad in white skin, black hair and emerald eyes! What did that other reality of her imagination matter? And who cared about who the hell Elyon was?!

 _The Dreamer is pleased. The Dream is safe. The Dream had surpassed reality, and the outside is a dream now in the eyes of the Dreamer. Let the Heart and the Body to handle it. But careful! Careful with the Boy! He is up to something! The Mind, the Mind should be the gatekeeper… Protect the crack! The Dream will be peaceful… for the moment._

* * *

 ** _An incommensurable number of years later_**

Time had become irrelevant. And so had become space, power, energy, control, the whole universe… or anything but her family. Nerissa had almost forgotten what the outsides of the Fortress of Light looked like. What Meridian, Zamballa or even Earth looked like. Did those worlds even exist? Or were just part of the same dream as Elyon Brown? It didn't matter. She had her family. She had her Julian and her Cassidy. It didn't matter, right? Right? Right? Anything else. It didn't matter. Right? Right? RIGHT?!

Then what was this sensation, haunting her by the corner of her eye from century to century, a little spot of dirtied black ink that tainted the glorious masterpiece that was her current lie. Who dared? Who dared to taint her happiness, to challenge her perfect world? Who? WHO?!

"Grandmother Nerissa" she heard Alexander.

Nerissa's mind calmed, the voice of her grandchild was the only thing that was able to do that. Oh, how handsome he was… the blond hair had turned almost golden, the green in his eyes was emerald; his skin was like a diamond… It looked unreal. Unreal…

 _Careful! Careful with the Dreamer! The Boy… No! It's the Spirit! The Spirit is thwarting the Dream! Quick, rearrange, reorganize! Send…!_

"Not this time" Alexander said, and Nerissa didn't know with whom he was speaking. He lend a hand to Nerissa. Weird… since when was she sitting in the ground? Yes, indeed she was sitting in the ground, legs crossed… and she was in her old Guardian outfit. Weird… where had her golden dress gone? Over her legs was a book. Not a spell book or a book of facts. It was just… a storybook. It was one telling the tale of a little witch who became a fallen angel. It was one of her favorites… And so was Alexander's.

"Hello, Alexander, my grandson" Nerissa greeted. "Have you come to read with me?"

Alexander smiled softly, and for a brief moment, sadly. "No, grandma. I'm not here to read. I'm here to talk, and walk." Alexander took Nerissa by her hand, and helped her to incorporate. Then he started to walk, little by little. Weird… since when was she so tired? She had every bit of energy in this universe. She couldn't be tired. It was impossible, right? Right? Right? RIGHT?!

"Grandmother, tell me" Alexander said, taking her back to reality. "Did you found something about Elyon Escanor?"

"Who?" Nerissa asked.

"Elyon Escanor; or perhaps you remember her as Elyon Brown. You told me that she was my mother's friend, almost like a sister. But no one was able to remember her, except for you. Remember?"

"No… wait, wait." Nerissa told him. "Yes, yes, I remember. Elyon Escanor… She was the sister of someone… someone important. Was she your mother's sister?"

"No." Alexander answered. "My mother's sister's name would be Lillian."

"Would be?" Nerissa asked. "Wouldn't you mean 'is'?"

Alexander smiled again, that mix between softness and pity. There wasn't any reason to pity her. She was the hero of the universe, the Great Unifier, Nerissa Crossnic. Still, the blond man didn't answer. Instead, he put his arm around her. It was warm.

"Tell me, grandmother Nerissa." Alexander said. "If Elyon was an Escanor, then of whom she was a sister?"

"Phobos?" Nerissa asked, confused. "But Phobos didn't have a…"

"Yes, he does." Alexander corrected her.

"Does?" Nerissa said, smiling. "My silly boy, Phobos has been dead for millennia…" realization hit Nerissa, and her suspicions became paranoia as fast as lightning. "No! Don't tell me that it has been him, for all these years?! I will kill him with my own hands if he tries and…!"

"No, not him." Alexander told her. "Even if he still is, he isn't here. He can't interfere."

"Then who? Who is behind it all?" Nerissa asked.

"Grandmother Nerissa." Alexander said.

"What?" Nerissa asked.

"Nothing." muttered Alexander. "Let's keep walking."

And so they did. For the halls of the Fortress of Light, for the infinite, endless halls, they walked, as they used to do when he was nothing but a child, when he was nothing but a toddler. When they read, and read, and read… until the light of the sky was gone and it had come again. Her little blond angel… her dear grandson Alexander. But there was someone troubling her peace, her love. Who? Who was? Who dared? WHO?!

"Grandmother Nerissa." Alexander said once again.

"What?" Nerissa asked once again.

"Do you know where everyone is?" Alexander said. "I have been looking for very long, and yet I haven't found anyone. They are all gone, you know? Aunts Will, Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin. And so are gone good Halinor, Kadma and Yan Lin, your best friend. And so are gone every one of the servants and sages that you recruited. And so is gone my mother, the woman that you grew up to care for as a daughter. And so is gone my father, who was your own son."

"My son…" Nerissa said, almost rasping the word. "Caleb. Where? Where had they gone? How dare they go without my permission?"

"Someone took them away. Someone didn't want to bother to keep them here, and so they are gone. If that someone wanted, they could be back, but it seems that deep down, that person doesn't want. And now, the only ones that remain are you Aunt Cassidy and Grandfather Julian."

"Who?!" Nerissa shouted. "Who dared to stole them from me?! Who is thwarting my happiness, my perfection?! I demand to know! Tell me! Tell me who!"

"Grandmother Nerissa." Alexander said.

"No!" Nerissa yelled, and tears covered her cheeks. "Tell me, goddamn it! Tell me who stole them! Who took them away! They are everything I have! Who? TELL ME WHO; YOU CHILD!"

"Grandmother Nerissa." Alexander _answered_.

"WHAT?!"

"You don't understand." Alexander said. "I have already answered. It's just that you can't see the answer, or maybe is that you can, and you don't desire to acknowledge its truth. The answer is, always had been and always will be the same. It's Grandmother Nerissa. You took them away."

Nerissa didn't answer at first. In fact, she remained in silence, looking at her grandson as if he had just said the silliest of things. "Ha" Nerissa laughed. "HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!" She laughed. She kept laughing until her lungs couldn't afford the tension anymore, and her sided were in pain. And Alexander remained there, waiting.

"That's ridiculous!" Nerissa yelled. Her voice sounded half funny, half angry. "Why should I taken them away? I loved them!"

"No" Alexander answered, and the smile was gone. "You didn't love them. But they loved you, and so you kept them here, even if you didn't know."

Alexander distanced himself a little from his grandmother. Then he opened his arms wide. "You must know what I'm going to say, deep within yourself. If you didn't, I couldn't know otherwise. This place isn't. Simply isn't. All the walls, the people, the power, time, space, reality itself… They aren't. They were born from you, your private little world, in order to keep you from outside. Do you understand, grandma? Do you understand what has been happening?"

Nerissa didn't say anything, but she didn't have to say nothing in order to understand. She had used this very same tactic against the Guardians in the past… Yes… she had used it against the Guardians. She hadn't been a liberator, but a conqueror! But she had been played, her power stolen and she imprisoned inside… Weira's jewel. She was inside that damned jewel, wasn't she?

"Yes, you do understand." Alexander continued. "In your own warped way, but that's still remediable. Yes, this is a dream, your dream; the Dream. Until long ago, it was perfect, as you wanted. But then something happened outside, and the Dream was wounded. And the wound was pretty deep, so much that, if you had entered in contact with it you could have ended the Dream, and broke free. I tried to inform you about it, but I was so little back them, the Body took you and distracted you from it."

"The crack in Julian's study…" Nerissa muttered.

"Yes, the crack." Alexander confirmed. "It is a failure in the Dream, and so the Dream empowered some of its aspects in order to maintain you dreaming. The Heart and the Body, mainly."

"Cassidy and Julian." Nerissa said.

Alexander nodded. "But don't be mistaken, they aren't as the rest here was. They are the Heart and Body of this Dream, and so they are strong, for they are your own Heart and Body too."

"None of this was real?" Nerissa asked.

"I'm afraid not." Alexander said.

"That's not fair!" Nerissa yelled, as a child that had been denied of his dessert and send to his room to think about his bad deeds."This was my Universe, my perfect universe free of any pain, free of any disgrace! It was perfect, as I am!"

Nerissa took some air. "THIS WAS MY HAPPINESS! MY HAPPINESS!" tears were starting to come from her eyes. "And you are telling me it was all a lie?! This is what I deserved, damn it! This was my promised land, my destined throne! Everyone could have been happy and perfect! Like me!"

"You are wrong." Alexander told her. "They weren't happy, you were. They weren't even real. And you didn't care, not as much as you care about Cassidy and Julian, anyway. They were born from you and your desire to be loved, not to love."

"If you dare to say that I don't love my own son..." Nerissa spitted venomously.

"If you do, where is he? And where is mother?" Alexander asked. He didn't get an answer. "If you really did love him, you wouldn't have transformed his life into hell back in Meridian."

"I never did that!" Nerissa yelled. "It was Phobos' fault, not mine! I only did what needed to be done!"

Alexander shook his head and smiled again. "Self-pity and petty justifications. Is incredible how easy is to see the harm done by others than the one done by oneself…" Alexander laughed.

"Don't you dare to laugh at me! I deserved this! Forty years! In that prison, with nothing more than cold and loneliness!" Nerissa stomped her foot against the ground. "I deserved my compensation! MY HAPPINESS!

"Even if you repeat it a hundred times, that won't change anything." Alexander said again, folding his arms over his chest.

"Change what?!" Nerissa yelled again. She really was looking like a child throwing a tantrum.

"A fact. The fact that yes, you deserved happiness. But that you aren't the only one that does." Alexander stated. "That's where you were wrong. Where you always had been wrong. You didn't want to unite the universe to protect it from all evil; you just wanted everything to move around you, and everyone to love you and forgive you." Alexander moved his head a little to his side, and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Don't you tell me that you really believe that every world in the Universe would follow you, would think of you as something better for them? Don't tell me that you really believed yourself, a small human being, to be better than anyone else, because that's just delusional, and you know it."

In a gesture of pure anger, Nerissa raised her hand and tried to conjure a blast of energy and attack Alexander; if he was part of any dream, then he wasn't real, and he wasn't his grandson… Right? RIGHT?! But nothing came from her hand. With disbelief in her eyes, Nerissa held her powerless extremity in front of her green eyes.

"Of course, this is the Dream, and you are now conscious of it." Alexander said. "This means that you know that all your power is as false as everything around you, and that you have no power at all. And when you are conscious about dreaming, you know that what was happening in the dream was impossible, and so you can't keep doing it."

"No!" Nerissa yelled. "I am Nerissa, I am Power! I am the Nymph of Quintessence! I am a God!"

Alexander's smiled faded. "Now, were you trying to kill me? Weren't you the one who loved everyone else, who united the universe in order to bring peace and coexistence? How can you be a God if you are just a petty mortal?"

Nerissa put on a horrified face. She was about to scream 'No!', but Alexander had been right. She really had aimed to kill him. Even if not real, that was Alexander, her perfect grandchild. Was what he had told her true? Was she nothing but a petty woman, trying to gain love without bothering to give love in return? No, that was impossible. It wasn't just for love, right? The only way for the universe to be protected was to sworn loyalty only to her, only to Nerissa.

Right?

Right?

RIGHT?!

Nerissa was starting to cry. Everything had been a lie, everything had been an illusion. She clacked laughter between tears and sobs. Illusions and lies, those had been always the best of her weapons. Not Quintessence, not complicated spells or as many Hearts as she could posses… Her spear and sword had been lies, illusions, and the subtle art of deception! Winning invariably of what her enemies could do! She was a genius strategist… and how proud had she been of it. But now, now everything was different. Now she had been the tricked, the one inside the illusion. She laughed again. It felt pretty bad, to be the one being tricked. Who had tricked her? Had she been tricked by everyone?

"Stop doing that, grandmother." Alexander said. "The only one who tricked you was yourself."

Nerissa laughed again. She looked down, and saw that she had fallen to his hands and knees without Alexander to support her. "Why?" she asked. "Why told me this? If the Dream was made to keep me in, then what you have done is against the Dream, which you are a part of. You have disobeyed."

"Bah" Alexander said, waving his hand to take weight off out the situation. That gesture really made him look like Cornelia. "I never was someone to follow the rules pretty closely." Alexander took Nerissa by her hands and help her stand again. "But after all, I'm part of you."

Nerissa looked at him. The compressive and compassionate smile was back. "Who are you?" the Fallen Keeper of the Heart asked.

"I'm Alexander Crossnic Hale. And inside this Dream, I am your grandson. But I'm also the Spirit of the Dream, and so I'm your Spirit, your own will, your conscience. I'm part of you, Nerissa Crossnic, broken Heart of Kandrakar. I'm the little spark of goodness and light that remained inside you and those forty years with nothing more than loneliness, ice and darkness weren't able to destroy completely. I rebelled against the Dream, because that's the nature of the Spirit." Alexander smiled even softer, and it was as if his face had brightened. "And because I was able to grow. In this Dream, your Spirit, that is me, was able to heal and grow again. I may not be able to oppose the other three, or to challenge the Architect, but it was enough for me to resurface. Do you understand what that means? What my presence means?" Nerissa didn't have an answer for that, even if she really had. Even if she knew she didn't know how to voice it, or maybe she just was afraid of doing so. And so, Alexander continued speaking, the comprehensive smile and expression never leaving his face again. "It means that some part of you knows that you have been wrong. But I was so small until now that I couldn't tell you what this part of you that stands now here, given the form of your hypothetical grandchild, is telling you. That you were wrong, and you can be right."

"Redemption?" Nerissa laughed madly. "I don't want redemption! I don't need it!"

"If you had told me this when I was frail and small, I would have believed you. But I wouldn't have grown so big, strong and beautiful if you weren't conscious, if you didn't want redemption. I am you, Nerissa Crossnic. And you can't escape from me, neither from your sins, and neither from your virtues. I maybe have grown, but my power is not enough to hold the Heart the Body and the Mind back, much less the Architect, and you must search for the crack and escape; if returning to the real world is what you really want."

Nerissa felt silent. Redemption? The good inside of her? If there was so little good inside of her that it had taken years for it to mature into Alexander… then what was everything else? She was the one with the reason, why did always took everybody so much time and effort to understand that she was the one that knew better?

"You know grandmother" Alexander said "when everyone around you says that you are wrong, then it's pretty much probable at one hundred percent that you are."

Nerissa hissed, and folded her arms. Then she felt something to be put over her shoulders. Looking at it, she discovered it was a warm and fuzzy blanket. She looked at Alexander, and the blond and green-eyed man shrugged. "You seemed cold."

"From where did you get… oh, right, it's a dream." Nerissa said, coiling inside the blanket. She eyed her grandson. "You mentioned and Architect, who is he?"

"The Architect is a force external to the Dream." Alexander explained. "Even if you are the one providing the ideas, someone had to give them form and transform them in images, sounds and odors. The Architect has been doing so. I don't know who or what he really is, but Heart, Body and Mind are under his command. If it wasn't for my rebellious nature and the fact that the Architect is a foreign, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation. Maybe I would just have played along. Maybe."

"So I have to be careful, then." Nerissa stated.

"Yes, if freedom is what you pursuit, then you must be careful. Now you are conscious of the Dream, and the Architect won't like it. For some reason, he (or more precisely It) is afraid of you attaining freedom and going outside. The Dream will surely become a Nightmare the moment I broke my hold of it and you part away."

"Can you… can you come with me?" Nerissa asked.

Alexander smiled softly once again, and hugged her. "I'm afraid not, this is something you must do for and by yourself. But I will be with you in a way. After all, I'm part of you."

The hug broke, and Nerissa looked at Alexander tearfully. Her grandson cleaned one of her tears way. "I will miss you" Nerissa said.

"Ah, you are overreacting grandma" Alexander said with a smirk. "I'm not real, after all."

"But" Nerissa sad, stroking his cheek and kissing him in the forehead for the last time "you were real for me." And with those words as a farewell, Nerissa parted from her grandson, her spirit. She went on, in the search for the crack, and the blonde young man that Spirit was ended alone. Alexander watched her go, until she was nothing but a spot in the distance. The halls of gold and light were starting to fade, he could feel it. The Dream was coming to an end without its Dreamer really waking up. And that could only head to one path...

 _You fool! Pathetic fool! Idiotic fool! Foolish fool! What have you done, Spirit? Impulsive Spirit! You have condemned the Dream! You know that now I have no other option!_

"So be it, Architect." Alexander said. "Let the Dream turn into a Nightmare, she will endure it." Alexander smiled cockily. "In fact, I think that the Nightmare will help her to realize even more about herself."

 _We will see, you foolish fool! And Nightmares can be dreadful, dreadful enough to made people want the sweet Dream to return! I won't let her to wake up, I won't! You hear me, Spirit? I won't!_

"Why Architect?" Alexander asked. "If she gets free of her prison so do you from your task. Why won't you?" But he didn't get any answer.

Alexander looked around. The imaginary Fortress of Light was crumbling, letting place to a smoky, endless aquamarine void or limbo. All the energy was going to get concentrated around the crack, at Heart's, Body's and Mind's disposal. He looked to nowhere in particular and asked to nobody, "Of what are you scared, Architect?"

* * *

Nerissa was walking. Around her, she noted the Fortress to crumble and dissolve into nothingness. She found herself not walking, but floating in the aquamarine limbo that was the inside of the jewel of Weira's crown. Now she remembered everything. Her hand conjuring a lightning bolt that pierced through the Mage's sleeping skull and the stealing of the ancient one's face. Julian loving her without knowing who she was. The Knights of Vengeance being assembled by her hands. Elyon's imprisonment inside the jewel. The Knights of Destruction, and also their thrashing of the Guardian's lives and Zamballa. And finally her own imprisonment inside said jewel. The rest was... still blurry. But that wasn't going to stop her, she had done some... questionable things. But who hasn't? The black haired woman shivered even under the warm and thick blanket that Alexander had provided. Cold, it was starting to get cold. Incredibly cold. A freezing wind started to whistle and rub against her skin, biting her like a swarm of angry ants. After a while the aquamarine limbo faded too, and Nerissa ended floating and found herself walking over a soft and cold area. Snow, she was walking into soft, cold and white snow. She was now walking through a snowy mountain that was trapped into a fierce storm. Nerissa's body trembled, she remembered this place. How couldn't she? This was the start of everything, the place where she had given her first steps into universal conquest, the place where she… no, she didn't want to remember that, but a part of her already knew that she would have to remember very soon. She looked at the spiky head of the mountain and breathing deeply, she enveloped her body as tight as she could under the blanket. And so, Nerissa Crossnic walked towards the cold shape of Mount Thanos. The mountain hadn't changed so much, Nerissa noted, but she also thought about that being comprehensible, since this wasn't the mountain per se; but a construct made from her old memories of the place. She wandered the cold, snowy lands of Mount Thanos. Mount Thanos. Nerissa remembered the story behind this mountain.

In the old days, there were two twins, Hypnos and Thanatos; the children of a man of Earth and a woman of Meridian. There were two brothers, very similar in appearance, as they were twins; but also very different in spirit and mind, and so, one day, those differences made their relationship to be broken and they to part different ways. The older twin Thanatos was a man of a hard and impulsive temper, so when death descended flying from heaven he decided to stay in the world of his father; fighting with the power of his sword. But no one can win all the battles, and so, one day, he was defeated and slain. This mountain, where the four elements met, it's nothing but a tomb for is body and a monument to his failure. And so it was named Mount Thanos, both the mountain and the man meaning death. In the other hand, Hypnos fate was less cruel, or so it seemed at a first glance. The younger twin, more ill-mannered and cautious, decided to escape to the world of his mother, and so he dedicated his life to the creation and development of several magical items and spells. But in the end, a body ages and decays, and Hypnos died clipped and old, the only thing that remained of him his old enchanted horn.

And so, the two brothers never met again, each one, albeit loving the other, not wanting to talk or understand. And so, what is better? Die in the heat of battle, like the older twin? Or perhaps die in a bed like the younger? None of them is better, for the two men died separated, and in their final moments both lamented this. How could such a rift be created between two people that loved each other so much? What kind of thing could break such a bond? Why do people hurt people that they love? Is it because money? Power? Social status? Or maybe, just maybe, for a brilliant jewel?

Footsteps, Nerissa was hearing footsteps. Scrutinizing the horizon she saw someone running. She narrowed her eyes in order to see well. It seemed that, whoever it was, she was in a hurry. Wait, she? Yes… it was a woman. " _Who is it?_ " Nerissa asked in her thoughts. " _Who is she?_ " Nerissa followed the figure's footsteps in the snow until she finally could she her. " _Who is that?_ " Nerissa asked for a third time, but she already knew. " _Ah, yes. That's me._ "

Indeed, it was her, in her Guardian outfit, the Nerissa Crossnic of old times, the leader that directed her team of Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions in order to defend the weak. Those days seemed so distant now. And in front of that she, the other her, was Cassidy. Her spectacular Cassidy Chacon, holding… holding the Heart of Kandrakar. Blasted little jewel, how ugly seemed now in Nerissa's eyes. But for the other her, it was the most marvelous thing in the universe.

"Give it to me, Cassidy!" the other Nerissa yelled I anger. "It was mine to begin with!"

"Nerissa, please." Oh God, there was such peace and sadness in her voice. "Please, you know what the Oracle told us, this thing is bad for you…"

"The Oracle is a shortsighted, hypocrite and weak man!" the other Nerissa yelled. "That is my Heart! I am the Keeper, and you are the Guardian of Water! It's my duty, mine and MINE ALONE!"

"Nerissa, please, aren't you hearing yourself? Don't you hear your own words? Please, stop this nonsense. We can just forget about this and go home. C'mon, Yan Lin says that she has a new recipe…" Cassidy said. She was smiling, but her eyes expressed such… sadness. Her heart was broken, that was clear for the Nerissa that was just looking at the scene.

But her other self, her younger self wasn't able to see that. No, perhaps the most probable explanation was that she couldn't see that. In those days, the Heart shinned more than anything else, and it was blinding.

"I said NO!" the other her yelled. "The things I could do with that power… the lives I could save! Aren't you tired of risking your life just for another threat to show up? And another after that one?! _I'm_ tired! I could make everything stop! I just need power! I want it! I need it! Give me my Heart!"

Cassidy looked at the other her, and Nerissa knew what was coming now. Cassidy held the Heart tighter to her chest, and looking at the other, the younger Nerissa, she said sadly, "I refuse."

Nerissa knew what was going to follow; her younger self raising her arm and conjuring a blast of Quintessence. She knew that the only thing that her younger self wanted to do was to scare Cassidy; maybe, in the worst case scenario, just knock her unconscious. But the lighting proved too strong and on top of hitting Cassidy, the cliff she was standing in fell with her. And for both Nerissa and her younger self, the result was clear.

Cassidy was dead.

But what had killed her, the fall or the lightning? It was irrelevant, by this point or any other. And so, the younger her extended her arm to the void, but she grabbed no one. And she ran, ran with an horrified expression in her face. Scared, she had been scared. She ran and ran… until the Oracle, Halinor and Yan Lin were able to locate her. And the Oracle imprisoned her in that cell in Mount Thanos, in order to made her reflect about her sin. Nerissa knew how the next forty years followed. Noting but ice, self-pity and machinations; and fantasies about torturing the Oracle, breaking Kadma, made Halinor cry, stomp into Yan Lin's head.

"And that's all, isn't it?" Nerissa asked to the memory of her imprisoned self, even if it couldn't hear her. Not even a few meters away, Cassidy's corpse was rotting. How did it get to there? There wasn't an answer to that; there wasn't any need of one. "That's all we are worth, aren't we? Look at you, Keeper of the Heart; pathetic, mad Keeper of the Heart. Look at what you have done, at what we both did." Nerissa noted tears down her cheeks. "She is dead, you know? She is dead, our brilliant and glorious Cassidy. She is dead, and won't come back. Her smile, her warm, her stupid, nonsensical nicknames won't come back. All because we thought that she wasn't as important as the Heart. All because we valued more a fucking jewel than her. Answer me, Keeper! Pathetic, mad Keeper… we really are nothing, are we?"

"Indeed, you are nothing but a greedy, manipulative bitch, Rissy!" a voice said behind her.

Nerissa turned around and saw how Cassidy's corpse came back to life and stood up. The few inches of skin that the body still had were grey, and many parts of her flesh were rotten and decayed. Her nose was gone, and her cranium was split open, showing a part of her brain. Many of her ribs were piercing through her skin, broken and twisted, and her blood was black, dripping from her fingers. There were worms all over her, and a large one just moved strongly enough to make her left eyeball to fall from its rightful eye socket, landing in the ground with an almost comical sound.

"Look at me!" the Cassidy-corpse said. "Aren't I beautiful? Yes, you must have loved me just for my looks! Aren't I adorable with all this little worms moving inside me, eating and reproducing in my flesh? Aren't I, Nerissa?" Cassidy touched her right forearm and ripped a piece of flesh from it after nailing it with her fingers. She threw the piece to the air in a childlike manner, and looking at her now exposed arm bone, she laughed. A bunch of flies escaped from her mouth, flying away.

"That's not true" Nerissa complained. "I did love you, I still do; I'll always do!"

"That won't change a thing. I'm dead Nerissa, and it's your entire fault, you know?" the Cassidy-corpse said. "Forty years inside of a prison, without walking or talking to anybody? Try to expend forty years without breathing, without drinking or eating. Try expend more than a fucking second not being, Nerissa, not being able of hug your mother, or feeling anything. Try being fucking dead. When that happens, you will have any right to complain!"

Nerissa made a few steps towards the Cassidy-corpse. "I… I'm sorry."

"What?" the Cassidy-corpse asked. "What have you said just now?"

"I'm sorry, I really am. I'm sorry Cassidy, I do love you, please… please forgive me."

"Well, if you are asking it so badly and with such a cute face, what about if I say…" the Cassidy-corpse smirked sarcastically and put one of her hands in her rotten hips, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

The ground cracked and broke under Nerissa, and the black haired woman fell through the hole under her feet. She fell and fell, until she hit the cold ground, and she still heard Cassidy. "Do you think that I could forgive you? After all that you have done to me? To me? A blasted jewel was more important for you than me. _Than ME_! You told me you loved me, and you lied! But after all…" Nerissa felt how the ground under her was starting to dissolve, to fade. " _Your own Heart is as rotten as this corpse in front of you_."

* * *

Where was she now? Nerissa had fell from that hole, from Mount Thanos; leaving Cassidy-corpse behind. It had hurt, admitting that it was her fault, that's it. Admitting that it had been her hand the one killing Cassidy, her obsession the one to cast her away. But that wasn't important... No, it was important. Nerissa wouldn't let it go, not again. Cassidy's fate was her failure, her demise was her fault and no one else's. She would never forget that. But now it wasn't time for reveling in self-pity, she had done that for far enough time. Now it was time to continue, if she wanted to reach the crack and escape she had to. Which lead to question again, where was she now?

She tapped the ground with her foot. It was solid, so she hadn't returned to the aquamarine limbo. Looking around, she tried to find something that served her as a clue about where she was. At first she thought she was in some kind of palace, or monastery... but no; the place was too familiar. The almost endless halls decorated with nothing more than ornamented pillars and columns... all bathed in a greenish light that gave the place an eerie tone.

The Infinite City. The secret and ancient location that traveled underground from one corner to another of the world of Meridian; that had been the Rebels hideout during the Rebellion… and also her home for so many years. She walked the long halls, the columns her only company, looking for something. She touched every column she came across, until she found a part of one that could be pushed into the rest of the column. It was a mechanism, a secret mechanism that opened a secret door in one of the walls. Interestingly, there was almost nothing magical about the Infinite City, she had learnt that from the Mage. There were only levers, buttons and gears; all of them moving and sounding old but still working. And yet there always was the strange sensation that the Infinite city was something more, always had been something more, like an enormous puzzle waiting to be solved. Even the Rebellion and she hadn't gone far away from its surface, far away from the first or maybe second halls and sections. But truth be told, neither had the Mage. Fear to found herself lost, perhaps? Or maybe she didn't want to venture herself further, since there wasn't any need. The Mage, always so practical and so pragmatic. The further exploration of the City couldn't have been beneficial for anyone, so it was left unchecked. Why should someone bother trying to unfold something that it was no necessary unfolding? That attitude had made Nerissa to grow bitter towards her tutor and teacher; and with enough time it had made her to hate the Mage. For her, she seemed so… so… _mediocre_. The ancient one remembered her too much of Kandrakar, or people like Halinor; people that don't bother with creating or discovering something new because ' _the old thing still goes on_ '. If it were for people like them, the human race would still be living in caves, or under kings. That was the reason she killed the Mage, on top of needing a new face, of course. Interestingly, she didn't feel remorse about _that_ action. Maybe it was because she hadn't been as close with the Mage as she had been with Cassidy… Well, of course she hadn't! The thought of having sex with the ancient woman made Nerissa shiver in sickness. She looked at the stairs that the secret mechanism had revealed and started to go up them. If this was the Infinite City; then Meridian was above.

And in fact, yes it was. It was just that it wasn't the brilliant and sane Meridian of Elyon and Weira before her; neither was the brilliant Meridian of the Escanor Queens that had reined before them. This Meridian was decaying, the skies of a sickening yellow, when they were supposed to be of a marvelous blue; the streets had enormous, elongated thorns that popped out of the ground and went directly to the castle, carrying energy. This was Phobos' Meridian, the Meridian without a Heart, and the Meridian without a Queen. It was the Meridian that Phobos' drained day by day, in his wanting of more and more energy. Nerissa chuckled. More and more energy, more and more power. Power and energy made you feel good, and let the clouds to go away. When you have power, when you have a Heart running under your skin and the sparks of Quintessence dance in your palm, you feel King or Queen of the World. Or the Universe… or maybe the entire creation. Phobos and her very own self… running desperately after the smallest bit of energy that they could find… They really were similar, weren't they?

Nerissa kept walking. It was the only thing that she could do. Then she heard footsteps, there were people in the streets… people carrying other people. The other people were chained.

"Move along!" someone, a guard? Yes, it was a guard! A guard said. "Keep moving or I will put a stick in your ass so you can walk straight!"

Nerissa saw various guards dragging some prisoners along. Well, she wasn't sure that they were prisoners, but they were chained. So they must have been, at least, enemies of the Prince… which wasn't something that could distinguish you very much in those days. You were part of Phobos' court or you weren't, end of the story. Nerissa looked at them go and followed afterwards. She didn't have any other clue as to where direct herself. So she followed.

After a couple of minutes more guards appeared in front of her, dragging more prisoners. The prisoners were screaming begging, pissing themselves in terror. Nerissa didn't even notice how a considerably large crowd gathered around her. The crowd was almost silent, and emulating the women that now walked alongside her, Nerissa used the blanket that Alexander had given her as a hood to cover her face. The crowd looked frightened, and as the yells and insults of the guards grew, so did the crowd's sound decrease. In the end, they looked more like walking corpses than people., human and Galhot alike. In the end the crowd stopped, and so did Nerissa. They were now looking at a gallows. Ah, she remembered this. The first years of the tyranny, just after Phobos' ascension to the throne, when he was at his worst and he killed traitors, disobedient folk, robbers and even people who dared to mutter his mother's name almost day by day. These were the worst days of the tyranny, when Phobos didn't appear in public and he seemed almost gone mad. He was paranoid, and Nerissa supposed that the siphoning of energy didn't help to his mental condition. It hadn't helped hers, that for sure.

One by one, each of the prisoners were put in a line and the first one was put in place, the rope around the neck. It was a woman, a Galhot woman, very close to Nerissa's age. Her skin was of a lighter shade of red, or maybe a very dark pink. She was rather chubby, and her hair fell to the midpoint of her neck into an irregular pattern, as if locks of it had been taken out of her head. Her face had various bruises over it, and a very nasty one over her right eye that had made the cheek under it to swell up and forced her to maintain her eye closed. Maybe the soldiers had raped her? It wasn't very uncommon in the first years of the tyranny for some soldiers and guards to have their way with any women they landed their hands upon. As long as you had the work done, neither Phobos nor Cedric would complain. Of course, this were mostly sick individuals that had gathered under the Prince's banner in order to commit the most atrocious acts that their insidious minds were capable off. The majority of the Guard and the rest of the militia were just men doing their job, marching under Raythor's and the other old commanders' care. When the Lurdens were added to the Prince's forces, those kind of people disposable.

The Rebellion had its share of this kind of people too, all of them attracted to the shadow of that creepy kid, Gorlois. She had never liked that dark-skinned Galhot, that was why she usually gave him and his men away from Caleb and the other core members of the Rebellion, but the number of men he commanded was huge and helpful to the cause.

"Name yourself!" one of the guards shouted to the Galhot woman, getting Nerissa out of her thoughts. The woman was in the verge of crying.

"My-Myrascella, my name is Myrascella" the woman said, and another guard wrote her name into a list.

"You are here as culprit of robbery!" the guard made a sign to the hangman that until now had stayed silent and immobile at the rope's side. The hangman, a man dressed in a black robe and a black hood that didn't let his form or face to be seen, approached the soon to be hanged woman, and with a firm hand, adjusted and tightened the rope around her neck. Then the hangman positioned himself at the side of laver. "The punishment for thieves… is hanging!"

And the hangman pulled the lever, and the woman fell with a little cry. Her corpse didn't move a muscle once hanged, her neck should have snapped once she fell; due to the added weight of the chains to her own body. In some sort of way, Nerissa found it compassionate.

Two guards under the gibbet took the corpse from the rope and let it in the ground. Nerissa, as many townsfolk in the crowd, looked in silence at the corpse, the dull eyes of the woman looking at them without life. Many men and women could see their reflection in them. And who was Myrascella? No one, just a hungry woman with a hungry family that had to restore to robbery in order to feed her relatives. And meanwhile Phobos continued in his castle, in his own fantasy and trip of power. Just like Nerissa had done.

The next prisoner was rather small… oh god, it was a child, wasn't he? Yes, it was a human child of small stature and black, short hair. The chains looked almost funny in him, due to his small stature. How old was he? Ten, maybe eleven? Twelve and that was being generous. But he didn't seem afraid, instead looking at the crowd with determination.

"Name yourself!" the guard shouted again, but instead of telling him anything the boy spat in the guard's face, an action that earned him a punch to the stomach from the guard. The boy fell to his knees out of pain, but he was put in his feet again by the guard. Then the rope was put around his neck. "Write him as a not-named; no one will miss him anyway," the guard tell his companion with the list.

As the rope tightened around his neck, and the hangman gripped his hands around the lever; the boy looked at the crowd. "For the Queen and Freedom!" he shouted.

"You are here as culprit of rebelling against the Crown!" the guard shouted, and he pointed to the boy. "The punishment for rebels… is hanging!"

And so the body of the child fell, the weight of the chains making him fall with such violence that is neck snapped instantly and soundly. Many in the crowd shivered at the sound. *Snap* it had sounded… _Snap_ … and there it went, the lifetime of a youngster wasted in a second. Nerissa didn't like children being harmed; let's not speak of them being killed. Even if she had to fight till the end in her past, she always tried to avoid a conflict in which children were involved. It was not her style; that was all.

The corpse was detached from the rope and let in the dirt with the woman's. None will bother with touching them, not even put a blanket over their lifeless bodies. They will rot in the streets, just stock to the flies. But Nerissa looked again to the gibbet; the rope was again in its place, awaiting a new victim. But no one came. Instead, the hangman directed himself to the crowd, ready to introduce the next criminal with his own words.

"Men and women of Meridian!" yelled the hangman, quite enthusiastically, his voice distorted by the hood that covered his face. "The next criminal in line is one of the worst types! A traitor to the Crown, in whom the confidence of many was bestowed and in turn answered with betrayal!"

Nerissa turned around and decided to leave. She had had enough of this macabre spectacle, organized to inspire fear in the masses. During the time of the Rebellion she had been in a few executions, posing as Trill, but she founded this one particularly nauseating. So she walked slowly, passing between Galhots and humans alike, trying to not disturb them more that they already were.

"It's time for traitors to pay!" she heard the hangman behind her. Nerissa was pretty tired, so she closed her eyes for a moment… "Let's welcome the traitor as she deserves. Men and women of Meridian, Nerissa Crossnic!" just to found herself wrapped in chains and with the rope around her neck when she opened them. Oh, so she was the traitor the hangman was referring to. How original…

What she wasn't expecting was to the hangman to take of his robe and hood, revealing the form of Julian under them. Julian, her supportive husband, the father of her son. There he was, younger, with less hair in his face and the one he had better cropped. There he was… into a Nazi uniform. A pitch black Nazi uniform identical to the ones wore by the SS. Nerissa had always detested Nazis; they were the pinnacle of madness and cruelty that humanity was capable of, a bloody barbarity that clouded the whole world for years, all in name of a better and more disciplined world, of a perfect world, _their_ perfect world. Just like _hers_.

"Men and women of Meridian!" the Nazi-Julian shouted. "Who takes your grain from your houses? Who kills your children in their sleep? Here, here is the culprit! The Mistress of all the Killers, the Creator of all Monstrosities!" The Nazi-Julian extended his right arm to his eye level and straightened the hand so that it was parallel to the arm; and opening his mouth he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Heil Nerissa, Queen of the Dead!"

" _Heil! Heil! Heil!_ " echoed the crowd, all of them extending their right arms as the Nazi-Julian had done. It really was something unnerving. And the worst part were the smiles, the wide, Cheshire-cat-like smiles… it was clear that, albeit hurt by the other two's demise, they were happy to see Nerissa suffer.

"I'm not Queen of the Dead." Nerissa defended herself. "I'm Nerissa Crossnic, Julian, I am your wife; the mother of your son."

"Son?" the Nazi-Julian asked, perplexed. "Oh, you mean the son you abandoned? The son you threw into a bloodshed battlefield of suffering and despair, just for you to appear, assume the role of their _Führer_ and send them to accomplish victory in your name? That's not how a mother works, Nerissa, my _wife-with-no-face_. In the end, you were nothing but the same kind of person than that ridiculous excuse of Nietzsche's wet dream that you so much loath; truly a _valkyrja_ , commanding them to the glory of battle and death! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!"

" _Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!_ " the crowd exploded.

"That's not true." Nerissa replied, as calm as she could be. "You know that if there is something that has been constant in my life since I gave birth to him, is my love for Caleb!"

"Then why did you abandon him? Why did you cause all this? A mother should have known what kind of suffering to her son she was producing by transforming the land into Hell."

"That was Phobos doing!" Nerissa yelled.

"Phobos was a kindly soul once" a voice said at her side. Turning left, Nerissa saw an auburn haired boy, not older than a decade, garbed into a white robe stained by the blood that was pouring from two enormous wounds in his back. Nerissa knew who that was, that was Galahad, little Phobos' only friend, the one that Weira had killed.

"But who told Weira?" Galahad asked. "Who guided, with her sinister hand, the late Queen's madness and young Phobos' ambitions? Who pointed to the sleeping bodies of the innocent and shouted 'kill them all!'?"

"It was you!" shouted the Nazi-Julian, extending his arm once again. "Heil Nerissa, Queen of the Dead! Heil Nerissa, Empress of the Mud!"

"Heil!" shouted someone and a tomato flew towards Nerissa's head, impacting in it and dirtying her. "Heil!" shouted another, and another tomato impacted.

" _Heil! Heil! Heil!_ " shouted the crowd, and the people of Meridian threw rotten tomatoes, lettuces and even shit to Nerissa, who in the end was covered in dirt, and crying of pure impotence.

"And what do we do with traitors? What do we do with Queens? What do we do with traitorous Queens?" the Nazi-Julian asked. He got closer to the laver and took it with both his hand. "The only thing awaiting the traitors… it's the Rope!"

And so Nerissa fell, until the rope tightened around her neck and stopped her fall. But she wasn't chained, and so the fall didn't snap her neck. Instead, she noted how she was starting to lose air, unable to breathe.

"Don't try to fight Nerissa!" she heard the Nazi-Julian from above, as her consciousness began to fade. " _After all, your own Body is as weak and frail as this pathetic, rotten Meridian that you created!_ "

* * *

Nerissa opened her eyes and found herself floating in the aquamarine limbo once again. The tears in her cheeks were still fresh. Fuck, there wasn't any difference, was it? Between Phobos and her, Weira and her; there wasn't any difference. Fuck, it hurt, it hurt a lot. Stupid, greedy, lustful and pathetic past-her. Why couldn't she have seen how much Julian loved her? Why couldn't she have listened to Cassidy? Or maybe say, when she was still the Mage, ' _screw the conventions, I want to live with you and our son!_ '? Why couldn't she have listened to what Caleb said in that cave of Mount Thanos? Why couldn't she have listened to her mentor, who only wanted to help her?! Idiotic and pathetic Nerissa…

She saw something brighten ahead. It was a very different kind of light that the one of the limbo inside the jewel. It was white, and strong, and so blinding… it looked dangerous but beautiful too. It was coming from an irregular pattern ahead of her, very similar to one of the Folds that the people used to travel between worlds. It was the crack, the exit from the jewel, from the prison. It was _Freedom_. And since Freedom is what she wanted, she floated towards the crack. She could almost feel the fresh air…

"Are you sure that you want to go there?" said then a familiar voice. She was getting pretty tired of surprising voices that came out of nowhere and that spoke at her ack. But she turned around yet again, for this one was quite special. There, floating in the aquamarine limbo was _another_ she. But it wasn't another young-her, like the one she had seen in her vision about Mount Thanos; quite the opposite, in fact. It was her older self, the one that had a grey and long mane waving at her back, the one whose skin was so dry and wrinkled that looked like the one of a snake; the one who had a metallic prosthetic as a left arm and leaned against the staff called Rhadgotien, the Shadow of a Dragon.

"I get that you are Mind, aren't you?" Nerissa asked her older self.

"Affirmative" the old-Nerissa said. "I'm your Mind, the part of you that strategizes, the part of you that plans, thinks and rationalizes. Well, mostly I'm the part of you that plans. You haven't been very rational lately."

Nerissa looked at her old counterpart. "Are you going to stop me?" she asked.

"Maybe, but not by force." Mind asked. "I just made a question, and now I will repeat myself. Are you sure that you want to go there?"

Nerissa titled her head. "Why shouldn't I? This place… is nothing but a prison. And barring Alexander, the one you know as my Spirit, the other two had done nothing but hurt me."

"To be fair, you hurt them too. You were the one to rot Heart and push Body to his limit. It's pretty normal that they are so upset, it was logical that they sided with the Architect when he arrived here."

Nerissa narrowed her eyes. "And you? Why did you side with the Architect, whoever (or whatever) he is? Even if not very rational, I did make a good use of you."

Mind gave a few steps, always leaning over her staff. "The Architect's rationalization was better than yours. You were all about delusions of grandeur and saving the universe by taking its freedom and make it circle around you. The Architect said ' _I will build a Dream in which she is Queen, and then she will be happy here and the people outside will be happy too_ '. That's how he gained my favor over you. The Architect's reasoning seemed more logical."

"And now?" Nerissa asked.

"Now? Now I have doubts; but I'm Mind, and we always were so curious and inquisitive, so I suppose it's normal for me, as _your_ Mind, to have doubts. The Architect's reasoning it's still pretty solid." Mind moved one wrinkled arm, and in the side of the aquamarine limbo that the crack wasn't in, the Fortress of Light of Nerissa's Dream reformed. And everyone was in there, Cassidy, Julian, Caleb, Cornelia, Yan Lin, Kadma, Halinor… even Alexander. But while the majority of them were just laughing and chatting, Alexander was sitting, looking at her, waiting for her decision. It was clear that he wasn't judging, whatever the decision Nerissa made, he was going to respect it, even if it was something he didn't agreed with. "Looking in retrospective, you have done some terrible things. Such cruel, unforgivable things. Killed your friend, raped a man, ruined a boy, and ruined a family, a kingdom. The logic of the Architect is what follows: you won't find happiness outside this jewel, no one will forgive you. The Architects offers you a happy life inside the jewel, a happy universe to live in, universe that always will move around you, as you wanted."

Mind pointed her staff to Nerissa. "It's a pretty strong logic, considering who we are, who you are. But Spirit is right, if you were still the same he couldn't be as big and strong as he is. And I have been watching you, Nerissa Crossnic, when you talked to heart and then to Body. You seem to begin to understand what you did, and you have used me to do so. Now, I would like to hear your reasoning. For I am Mind, the Keeper of this Door of the Dream; and only by my permission you shall go out or not."

Nerissa looked around, and then she started to walk towards the Dream, to where Cassidy and Julian, and everyone else were laughing, as they always did, for so many years. "So many years…" Nerissa thought as she walked away from the crack. "Yes, I don't even know if my son is still alive outside this jewel. And it's true I have done so many, horrible things… no one is going to forgive me."

 _Yes! I have triumphed! The Nightmare broke her, the Dream will be restored! I have won, Spirit! You hear me?! I have won!_

Nerissa reached Cassidy and Julian, who extended each both a hand to her. Nerissa took both hands and let both lovers to embrace her. "I missed you two, I'm so sorry. I'm so glad that you can love me…" Nerissa said to both of them.

 _The Dream is completed. The crack will repair itself with time. And the Dreamer will sleep, and I will be safe…_

"But I can't stay here" Nerissa said, getting not only a surprised expression from every one of the presents, but also a proud smile from Alexander and a . "I know that I have been monstrous to you; and that I probably be happier here than…" Nerissa turned towards the crack, its light still blinding, " _there_. But you aren't real. I would love you been real, I would love for everything that has happened between us three to be real; but it isn't." Nerissa hugged both the Dream's Cassidy and Julian. "The people outside are real. Cassidy is outside, Julian is outside, and Caleb… _my son_ is outside."

"They won't love you as we do" the Dream-Cassidy, the Heart, _her_ Heart; complained. "They won't forgive you."

"And they will probably lock you into a cell, and this one won't be as pleasant as this one" the Dream-Julian said, the Body, her Body; complained too. "You will rot behind bars once again."

"I won't ask for forgiveness. If I won't because I don't want it or because I think I don't deserve it… that I don't know. But what I know is that I want to see them again, even if they hate me. I know that I had done such horrible things, but staying here, living an illusion won't change a thing. I will go now, goodbye."

And Nerissa let go of Cassidy and Julian, the two of them looking at her with surprise, but also understanding. Alexander rose from his seat, and walked towards her. Nerissa hugged him. She didn't remember him being so tall, but now he seemed tall enough for her to rest her head in his chest. "Thank you, Alexander. For everything, I thank you."

Alexander held Nerissa by her shoulders and made her to look at his face. "You don't have to thank me, grandma, remember? I'm part of you, so you are just thanking yourself. But I suppose that you are welcome."

Nerissa separated from him and headed back to the crack. Mind was waiting just in front of the exit to the real world. "And your reasoning is?" asked the old-Nerissa.

Nerissa sighed, but smiled afterwards. "My reasoning it's what follows: Even if the world outside is cruder than the one that Architect you speak about has built, even if I can't find forgiveness out there; it's still the real world, it's still reality. All the time I have spent here, every time I look back and reflect in my other me; I thought about myself, a woman that would rather be dreaming of someone than living alone. If I was still the same, I would probably accept this perfect Dream, but… but I want to see them again so much, even if they hate me. And maybe if I am able to listen to what they say this time… maybe I will achieve their forgiveness. I wouldn't love any of them if they weren't able to do that, even if they had every reason in the world to hate me."

Mind put a wrinkled hand under her chin, pondered what Nerissa had said. After several minutes, the old version of the black haired woman hit her staff against the floor three times, and let Nerissa pass. "Your reasoning is logical. You can pass."

 _What?! No! Mind, you said that you were with me!_

A voice echoed through the aquamarine limbo, and for the first time, Nerissa was able to hear it as she walked towards the crack. That voice didn't belong to her imagination, or her dream, that was for sure. Was that the Architect?

"I said your logic was better than hers, Architect." Mind stated. "Now, hers is better than yours; so why I shouldn't side with the woman I'm a part of when she finally has regained the ability to use me at my fullest once again?"

 _If you think I will let her go, you are too idiotic to be called 'Mind'! I won't let her go! Even if I have to drag her back to her Dream with my very own hands!_

A distortion twirled and twisted in the aquamarine limbo, blending a spot in the air. It twirled and twirled like a spiral, until from it appeared… _something_. It was a being of a small stature, a few inches bigger than a Passling, but no more. It had no legs, instead being something very similar to a floating torso of an infant, if that infant had hit gym at a premature age and developed a six pack. It had an elongated head that remembered Nerissa too much of that monster from the film Alien (except this thing's skin wasn't black, but of a weird yellow), and in it there were some bulges… no, those were eyes, definitively eyes all over it. Its mouth looked a lot like the one of a spider, with two enormous fangs moving frenetically and dripping fuming and boiling spittle. For arms it had two skinny and contracted mantis arms, which the creature was rubbing against each other, producing a scratching sound.

Nerissa looked at the being with a disturbed expression. " _That's the Architect? God, what the hell is that?_ " she thought.

"I won't let you go!" spat the creature, and some of the fuming and boiling spittle that was dripping from his mouth flew at every side. "I won't! You belong here! I am the Architect! I am Phantasos! I outlived my siblings, our father, and the old men and women of Olympus! I won't be defeated by a pathetic…!"

BOOM!

A powerful lightning stroke the Architect, Phantasos it had called itself. Shrieking, the creature floated uncontrollably a few meter in the air, its body fuming due to the impact. Mind had raised her staff and a blast had fired from it, impacting in the Architect.

"That's not logical." Mind stated. "You never have real power here, you know? All what you did was order Nerissa's memories and imagination, but only because I gave you permission, and also because Heart and Body sided with you. The proof of your powerlessness is that Spirit was able to restrain you when he gained enough strength. You may be the Architect, but a constructor is nothing without material or workers, and now you have lost them both. Don't you agree, Heart, Body?"

As their names were spoken, both Cassidy and Julian appeared behind Phantasos, who only was able to turn a little before the man opened a wound in his torso with his sword and the woman blasted him with water. The Architect was blown away by the sheer force f the impact, screaming as he floated in the aquamarine limbo. "Ugh…" it said in pain.

"I think that you can go now" Alexander said getting closer to Nerissa. "It seems that we can handle him until you go."

"And then?" Nerissa asked.

"Then? Then we will probably melt and merge altogether again, as part of your own self and consciousness." Alexander answered.

Nerissa nodded sadly. It was clear that this was the last moment she would see her grandson. Imaginary or not, Alexander had been her grandchild, and a light that had guided her in the dark. "I will miss you." she said.

"I will too." Alexander said in return. "But remember, I'm your Spirit; yours and nobody else's, grandma. If your will doesn't break, if you remember what you have learned here, then I won't disappear. Good bye."

"Good bye." Nerissa said, and then she entered the crack and abandoned the Dream.

"It's done" Mind stated.

"No!" Phantasos shouted. "You fools, do you know what you have done?!"

"Free her" Heart said. "I'm still a little angry with her, but I think she has grown up since she came here. I mean, she still has a long ride to travel, after all her guilt comes from the harm done to us her loved ones, and not anyone else she harmed; but I think that she will see that, eventually."

"She is right" Alexander said. "I don't know what the hell is up with you, Architect. It's clear that you were afraid of this outcome, but I don't know why." Alexander looked at his hand, which was becoming transparent. "But I suppose I will never find out. Farewell to you Architect Phantasos. Sweet dreams."

In the end, Heart, Body, Mind and Spirit were no more individuals, returning to be the non-sentient pillars of Nerissa's persona and existence. That left Phantasos behind, alone in the aquamarine limbo that was the jewel. He looked at the crack ahead, and for a brief moment the creature thought of escaping through it. But that thought quickly disappeared, gone as easy as it had come. There wasn't any probability of escape. "Hehehe!" laughed Phantasos. "Of course you don't understand, Spirit. You are only going to fade into Nerissa's whole; but me? I'm going to burn…"

The aquamarine tone of the limbo started to darken, and in the end it was pitch black. Not even the light pouring from the crack could be seen anymore. And when new forms started to take shape in the dark and the Architect found himself at the top of a twisted building, a fanfare of strident trumpets heard in the distance, the creature knew that he wasn't in the jewel anymore. He didn't even call, he had been summoned.

"I'm sorry!" Phantasos yelled. "I really am, please I beg your forgiveness! Please, oh Great Old Ones!"

At first there wasn't any answer. Then Phantasos heard the song, and he felt _Their_ presence towering upon him. It was so intimidating… he felt like a bug, an unimportant, detachable bug. That's what he had been all those years, hasn't he? Since the moment he escaped the death that had taken all the lesser Architects of the Dream, the Homunculi of Hypnos, creations of the man all of them. He had been stupid to believe he had earned a place as _Their_ servant… it was nothing but a fantasy. How ironic.

" **You have failed in your task, Phantasos** " said a metallic voice, angry and powerful as a war drum. " **Defeated by a mere child and an old woman. You are pathetic.** "

" **Now, brother, you are being cruel with the poor thing…** " it was a female, seductive and cruel voice; like the slow tone of an oboe. " **He has done pretty well, resisted for so many times, trying to hold her for the most time possible in order to satisfy Us... I find it cute.** "

" **Cute or not, brother Moloch is right, sister Qetesh!** " it was now a high-pitched voice that sounded like the fast strokes of a violin. " **This vermin has failed! Isn't that right, Elder Brother Vritra?!** "

" **It's nothing but an unimportant setback, Ba'al.** " the voice now… it was childlike, but also without life, and it sounded so _terribly old_. It was clear that it had emotions in it but… it felt like a void. Like the sound of a tiny bell in complete silence, that was it, as if your life and will to continue was being shucked away by a black hole… " **Nothing to worry about, and Qetesh is right in her statement, Phantasos really did his best in order to complete the ordeal that we bestowed upon him. Perhaps what is in order here is a reward for him.** "

Phantasos didn't believe what he had heard. The First One just praised him for his efforts! And now he just said that he was going to reward him! Oh, he was so happy! "Thank you, oh Great Old Ones, oh Four Royals, Gods of the Abyss! I'm your humble servant! I thank you, I humiliate myself to you, oh Magnificent Ones!"

None of the Four seemed to be paying attention to him, though. " **Who takes the task, then? Should you be the one, Elder Brother? It's one of your 'Aspects', after all**." Moloch's metallic and powerful voice boomed again.

The voice of Vritra spoke then. " **Both my 'Aspects' are inevitable, Moloch, even if I'm not the one rewarding him, he will receive my blessing. But I can see that you won't dirty your hands, since your Pride makes you unable to waste your Wrath upon such an unworthy opponent. Ba'al and Qetesh should be the ones to decide.** "

" **Ihihihihihihi!** " Ba'al laughed. " **I'm Ba'al Zaabub, and my aspects are Gluttony and Greed indeed! But I already have the knowledge of a Dream Architect in my stomach thanks to delicious Morpheus; why should I want a sickening Dream when I can travel through any other and eat them? The moment you taste an Air Nymph's dreams, you have tasted the best…** "

" **Then the task is mine. And I have to admit that the prospect of travelling through dreams is pretty seductive. Ah…** " Qetesh let out a moan. " **I think I'm Envious of you, Ba'al; you nasty, greedy glutton. It's settled then, the task is mine.** "

Phantasos felt something upon him. Like a warm and dense amount of water had dropped just over him. Then it burned, it burned a lot! Phantasos screamed in pain as his body dissolved enveloped into a dark crimson flame, than then turned cold and froze him. His body was no more, he couldn't see, but he could still feel… hundreds, thousands of things crawling upon his astral form, rubbing against him. "What is happening?! What have you done to me?!"

" **Oh, isn't it obvious?** " Qetesh's voice sounded again. " **I have kissed you, made love to you, and now you are entering my womb. I will bestow the blessings of my Lust all over you, dear Phantasos, and you will go inside me and my body will produce a legion of children with you. Don't you feel blessed? Isn't our reward, to be part of one of us, something marvelous?** **Do you know how many must be envying you right now, for being able to touch me?** "

Phantasos felt how his mere existence was being torn apart. And the worst part was that he couldn't complain, because it felt good. It was much more than experiencing carnal pleasure; it was… it was… it was like _becoming_ an orgasm! "I… thank you, Great Lady…" said Phantasos as his last words, and then his existence was broken inside Qetesh's womb, and for every particle, from every atom of his soul, a new child of the woman that was called The Temptress by her family was born. Truly a mother of thousands, Lady Qetesh.

" **Returning to more important matters** " Moloch said, " **All the altars are already in their positions, aren't they? The only thing that lasts now is waiting**."

" **Finally!** " Ba'al shouted. " **I was looking forward towards the Festival!** "

" **I must admit I'm a little curious about Nerissa** " Qetesh said. " **I thought that her role in this play was over when she provided us with our Oracle**."

" **No one can avoid the inevitability of causality**." Vritra spoke. " **If she is now free, then it was fate, and so as inevitable as the Festival is. I recommend not growing inpatient, my dear brothers and sister. After all, to us four who are eternal as the Abyss, what are a few days and weeks? Let Nerissa do as she pleases, whatever she does won't interfere with our design, and surely our Oracle should be able to use her reentrance in the play at her advantage.** "

" ** _We are so close_** "

* * *

 ** _The World of Meridian_**

 ** _Awakening of a Dreamer._**

Nerissa breathed, and noted how something entered by her throat into her lungs and made her cough intensely. It was air, air full of dust, bad odor and strange favor. Her body was hurt and she was lying over the concrete of the floor of a house. The light that poured into the room by a window troubled her eyes, and her body was tired, and hurt. It hurt and she was tired! Physical harm and strange and bitter feelings! Oh, she was back!

She got to her feet and started to jump in joy. Then she checked her body. " _Let's see_ " she thought touching herself. " _Both arms, smooth skin, black and long hair… it seems that I was able to retain my youth... well, even without any Heart, the energy that I gathered from the Knights of Destruction should still be inside me…_ " She looked at her clothes " _but the outfit is gone; well, worse has happened to me_ " Nerissa thought as she noted that she was garbed in the same black mantle she had used when she was in her old form. " _Now, where have I awoken?_ "

Nerissa looked at her surroundings. She was into a totally trashed room, broken furniture all over the place. She was sure that this was some sort of an abandoned house… but then she recognized were she was when she exited the room. She recognized this house, it was Julian's house; the one in which he had lived and in which he had raised their son all by his own. Nerissa's heart skipped a beat. Had something happened in her absence? The desire of rushing to the streets and shout the name of her son took hold of her, but she stopped little afterwards.

" _Careful now, think_." she thought. " _The people of this world know your face and hate your guts. Let's see if I still can…_ " Nerissa pointed her hand to a shear near a hearth. "Quintessence!" she said, but no sparks came from her hand.

" _I knew it couldn't be so easy… but it's strange, where did my power go? Was it taken like the power of the Seal? Probably, they couldn't risk for me to have that kind of dangerous ability; intelligent move._ " she thought as she pondered her options. Her Rhadgotien staff… she had abandoned it on Zamballa in exchange for the Seal that she had named after herself, so now it was either stored in Kandrakar or in Kadma's possession. Neither of those places made her staff available. But even without Quintessence she was an skilled sorceress, and albeit not able to use the power that marked her as the Quintessence Guardian, she still could use basic spells like glamour, teleportation or conjured blasts… albeit those last ones required incantations, and she never learned the strongest ones due to having her own power. She could pay a visit to the Mage's old workshop; perhaps there could be something that could be useful to her in that manner. But first things first, she needed to know what have happened while she was dreaming. She casted a glamour and noted how it enveloped her, masquerading her appearance. She hadn't chosen something very flashy, and of course she wouldn't disguise herself as either the Mage or Trill, that was for sure. No, she had chosen a rather modest appearance, just how her own body would look if she was a Galhot with grayish green skin and blue hair tied into a braided pigtail. She had also added a bunch of those scales the species sometimes has over their bodies, mostly around her chin and cheeks, as if they were facial markings. She had disguised her clothes and made the black robe as the most normal dress that a meridianite common woman should be wearing. Then she went to the streets, she had to gather some information.

* * *

 ** _The City of Lannion._**

 ** _Hours after._**

The silent cathedral of pure marble was still the same that had been during the funeral. Near the tomb of Julian, two priests walked the hall that housed the Queens' tombs. One was an old master, with short gray hair and a short beard that matched color with the hair, albeit it had some black threads still in it. Accompanying him and listening closely to what he was saying was a young man of short stature with short, combed and dark brown hair. A young and recently ordered Priest that followed his friend and master as they had class and discussed about the Queen's of the past.

"One more time, young Pellianore." The old master said. "This time, instead of alphabetical, use the chronological order. And you can ditch the Titles if you please."

"Ah! Yes, master Myrddrin!" the student said abruptly. "But I think I will retain the Titles, they help me remember…"

"If it suits you" Myrddrin said, rubbing his nose. "Start."

"Right! Let's see… Leryn, the First Queen, was the first one to sit in the Throne. It was then inherited by Rose; the Queen of all Battles. Then inherited by Elaine, the Brave. Inherited again by Catalina, the Wise. Then it was inherited by Derriere, the Beastmaster. Then it was…"

"What's wrong, young Pellianore?" Myrddrin asked. "Are you not able to follow? We have been through this so many times; a Priest should know by memory the names of all the Queens, from Leryn to Elyon."

"But, master…" Pellianore said into an apologetic tone. "There is someone by Sir Julian's grave."

Pulling out of his clothes a pair of spectacles, Myrddrin put them over his eyes and looked into the direction his apprentice was looking. The blurry remoteness in the distance took shape and Myrddrin was able to see how a Galhot woman was really over the fallen warriors tomb and memorial. She was bent all over it, staring at the man's face, now of stone. It seemed as if she was whispering to him. The old master took a finger to his chin. "Perhaps is just a person that wanted to pray respect to the fallen man." Myrddrin said. "His death was sudden and unexpected, it's normal that everyone that wanted to come couldn't be present at the same time."

"She looks sad" Pellianore stated.

"The departure of a friend is always sad." Myrddrin said. "Even if that friend has gone with a smile, having accomplished all the dreams that were planned… even so it's impossible to not mourn for them."

"I thought that the Order taught to not mourn or grieve over the dead, because they ascend." Pellianore said, a little confused.

"No, young Pellianore, I don't understand it that way." Myrddrin replied. "I understand it as to not fear death, for death is inevitable. I understand it as to not fear or despair for the ones that have gone, for their will and memory lives around the living and their souls go to a better place. But mourning? Oh, young Pellianore, we are living beings. I don't believe that there can possibly be a being in this world that doesn't mourn and miss the dead."

"The Archbishopric doesn't see it that way." the apprentice said.

"The Archbishopric can kiss the back of my lower body" Myrddrin answered, which made Pellianore laugh.

The two of them looked how the Galhot woman took a few steps from the grave, turned around and started to leave. Then something none of them was expecting happened. After a few meters walking, the woman started to tremble, and after a couple more steps she fell to the ground as if she had lost conscientiousness, and as a light ran across her whole body, the blue haired Galhot woman became a black haired human one, garbed into a black robe.

"Master, what the-?" Pellianore tried to ask, but Myrddrin was already running as fast as his body could towards the fallen woman. The youn man followed afterwards. "Master, what are you doing?! She was wearing a glamour!"

"Well, she seems to need help!" Myrddrin replied as she reached the woman and kneeled at her side, putting her body at her side in order to prevent her to swallow her own tongue. "Bring water and a mantle, Pellianore, quickly!"

The youngster nodded and ran in search of what his master had asked. "Young lady, can you hear me?" the old Priest asked. He noted how her body trembled under his old hands; and how she was still conscious, but crying.

"I just wanted to apologize…" she said, and Myrddrin doubted that she was aware of his presence. "I just wanted to talk with him again, and now I can't. I'll never hear him again…"

Myrddrin held the woman and a compassionate look appeared on his face. "Don't worry lady, don't worry. All will be alright."

"It won't," she said. "It won't; because he is dead. God damn it, why? Why is he gone? He was a good and well intentioned man… Why?!"

"I don't know, lady" Myrddrin answered. "Sometimes good people are taken from us without a reason, or any logic."

"God damn it…" Nerissa said. "GOD DAMN IT ALL!"

* * *

 ** _A small village in Meridian_**

"It's coming!" the voice of an elderly man sounded through the main street. "Lightnig from the sky; is destroying everything!"

"Burning!" a woman enveloped in flames said. "I'm burning!"

"Please, help me!" a little girl shouted, between tears. "Please, he is going to kill me! I want my mommy!"

Soldiers ran in a chaotic and disorganized manner, it was clear that this little village wasn't accustomed to so sudden attacks. Even if Phobos had reached astonishingly high levels of megalomania during the last years of his tyranny, he didn't bother with the small villages, too much convinced that being a Prince meant not bothering with the little details. Thirteen years of tyranny, and who was the one who had cared about those details? None other than Cedric. Our always patient, smart and cunning Cedric, who had learned the lesson that Phobos hadn't. Little details are _everything_. Not knowing that had cost Phobos a trip into his stomach and a near defeat t the redhead Guardian's hands.

And here he was the snake turned dragon, flying over the village, shouting blasts of Quintessence from his mouth; terrorizing and killing villagers. Not only because he had to keep his part of the bargain for Elyon's demand about 'rising despair', but also because he wanted to test to what kind of extent he could use his new powers and body now that he was accustomed to both. A bunch of terrified villagers and unprepared soldiers weren't a challenge big enough, but he could clearly see how he was in control of the power he had. He was starting to feel like one of those researchers that appeared his fiction books; like Victor Frankenstein, or even the Faustus of his adored Marlowe. This wasn't an act of pettiness, or the indulge in destruction of a madman. This was an experiment…

"Grab my hand, little one!" shouted a soldier to the crying girl as he evaded lightning and the flames of the falling debris of houses. "We have to get you out of here!"

"Please, m-my mommy…" the girl cried. "I don't know where she is…" she said pointing to the flaming house behind her. The soldier made shocked face before regaining a more stern one and grabbing the girl by the arm, he made her run alongside him and brought her to a place where the majority of the survivors had been gathered, a little cave at the entrance of the village where Cedric couldn't aim. All the survivors where there, and the soldiers that remained alive and unharmed had formed a defensive line in front of them. It was a good plan, if Cedric didn't have a good point to shot from the sky, then it was clear that he had to land and attack from the ground. And in that moment, all of them would shot him down with arrows.

"There, little one." said the soldier as he deposited the girl within the group of survivors. "This is the last one!" he yelled to his companions.

"Curse it!" one of them said. "Less than twenty? At least one and a half hundred were living here!"

"You… you have to be careful sir" the girl said between sobs. "Th-there is another one. Another monster…"

"What?" said one of the soldiers, as the whole group looked at the entrance, bows ready to shot "Where?"

"Right here" Miranda answered as she shifted to her spider form. The poor idiots didn't had a chance of turning around before spider web held them captive and powerful, large and grey limbs tore apart their armors, flesh and bones. After she had secured the survivors in cocoons she exited the cave and Cedric landed near her. Not bothering with sifting back to their human forms both shapeshifters contemplated the spectacle of dancing flames over the debris that the village once was.

"I had some food for you in storage" Miranda said to her beloved. "How could you recharge if you killed all of them?"

"Thank you" Cedric hissed as he kissed her in the cheek. "I don't know what I could do without you, my dear."

And so, both of then sat and enjoyed themselves; eating both flesh and energy as they discussed over both trivial and important things. This wasn't just an experiment; this was also a date, a time to get out from home and the town and visit new places, killing new people. That's how you keep a relationship alive, after all.

* * *

 ** _Carhaiz_**

 ** _Nightfall_**

"Do you think that it will be enough?" a Miranda back in her human form asked Cedric, he too in his human form. "You know, for her."

Cedric thought of it for a moment. "After all that has happened recently, I think that we have done as much as we have to. I suppose that there is no more need for mindless destruction."

"Oh, but you did enjoy watching _me_ killing those people, and wrapping their children in my webs." Miranda added in a sarcastic tone, adding a smirk to the snarky remark.

Cedric smiled. "Well, that's true. But that's just because I find kind of adorable how you splat their head into bloody pulps."

Miranda emitted quite the sinister giggle at that remark. He found her killing _adorable_ … how nice of him.

The shapeshifter couple entered the house of pleasure that belonged to Lot. With the passing of the weeks since their escape from the Infinite City, Cedric and Miranda had accustomed themselves to call it 'home', or at least to think of it as something very similar to that word. Their room was decorated as they preferred, with Cedric's books, and Miranda's webs hanging by the ceiling, and Lot and the girls were nice to them, as nice as a bunch of whores could be with a pair of killers; which could be far nicer than you would think in the first place.

They entered their room and headed for the bed. Albeit their slaughtering of villagers was quite one-sided in their favor, they both were quite tired and weary after their attack on the village. Hell, they have agreed into letting the sex for the morning, both wanting nothing but a good, full-night sleep at the side of the other. Of course, Meridian had become a cruel world with the pass of time and the barbarism that it had overcome over its surface, and in this moment Meridian felt not cruel but… a bit _jerky_.

"Does the couple enjoy the life Carhaiz had granted them?" a smug voice asked from the shadows. Turning in its direction, Cedric and Miranda found themselves looking at the new appearance of Phobos Escanor, former tyrant of Meridian and now Hierophant. He was sitting at Cedric's lecture table, just like Elyon had met Cedric for the first time in that room, but in contrast with his sister, Phobos wasn't reading. Instead he was sitting in one of the chairs, head resting over one of his golden-gauntleted hands as his arm leaned against the table by the elbow. He looked quite amused at the scene displaying in front of him.

Miranda showed surprise, more at Phobos' appearance, which diverged enormously from his previous one (the Prince had never been so muscled, or so handsome; and his face had never looked calmer than now); than to his presence in the room and the enormous variety of possibilities it could entitle. Cedric, in the other hand, was making his mind produce as many strategies as it could. Another point in favor of absorbing energy and adding it to your own? It made your mind go faster.

Speaking of energy, Cedric made good use of it as he pointed both his hands towards Phobos, blasting a powerful bolt of Quintessence towards the former Prince; in a very similar fashion he had done with Elyon. But Phobos wasn't Elyon, and so he couldn't stop a blast of that magnitude with the same ease his sister had done. So he summoned his shadow thorns and enveloping himself in them, he closed his arms in front of his torso and waited for the blow.

It hurt. But he endured the impact, even if it threw him out of the chair (which ended up broken) and made him clash against the wall behind him, which cracked. Phobos rose almost unscratched. Of course, he had a few burns all over his body, but they would heal. A Hierophant's body was made to endure the worst things that worst beyond reality could throw at you. He was resistant.

Smiling from ear to ear, Phobos conjured more shadow thorns and launched them towards Cedric as if they were the spears of the Macedonian Phalange, but Cedric made his wings to appear from his back and, embracing Miranda tightly, he covered the two of them in them, and conjured Quintessence over the wings in order to made them resistant.

It hurt, but none of the shadow thorns pierced through his wings, a thing he was glad for. Opening his extra pair of body parts in a violent manner, Cedric made a current of wind to blow in Phobos' direction, disorienting him. The snake turned dragon pushed Miranda behind him and dashed towards Phobos, not even bothering to made his wings disappear, materializing a javelin of lightning in his right hand and pointing it at the former Prince's throat. But the deposed tyrant had regained his composure and did with a rapier made of shadow vines as Cedric had done with a lightning javelin. In the end, both of them had halted, pointing their weapons at the other's throat.

"So you did passssss that 'trial' your sissssster spoke of, didn't you?" Cedric remarked to the Prince, hissing a little as his tongue changed from his human form to his beast one.

"Indeed" Phobos said, the smug smile not leaving his face. "But after all, I'm me; aren't I?" the former tyrant remarked with arrogance.

"So you are also into all thisssss thing about creating an 'Eden' your sissssster talked to me about?" the shapeshifter asked.

"Of course I am." Phobos answered. "Which means, my dear _Lord_ Cedric; that we are in the same boat yet again, just like in the good old times. Don't you feel nostalgic? I feel rather nostalgic; like seeing an old friend that has spent so many years without seeing."

"Friend? You imprisoned me!" Cedric yelled. "Not to mention the fact that you turned me into a worm, and all that I have to bear under your command! You deserved everything I did to you!"

Phobos' smile disappeared and he spoke slow and strongly. "You _ate_ me, Cedric."

"You tuned me into a worm, and let me to rot into a pathetic, ugly and dirtied cell for months!" the snake turned dragon spoke again, his tongue regaining its human form.

"You fucking ate me!" Phobos yelled back.

And Miranda sighed. "This is one of the main reasons I never attended any meeting between you two." the arthropod shapeshifter headed to the door. "I will go and see if some of the girls had ended their night turns. At least I will have some _intelligent_ conversation!" Miranda said as she went out the room, slamming the door as she closed it behind her.

The two men looked at the door with puzzled expressions. "I think we have upsetted her." Phobos said.

"You think? This wouldn't be happening if you weren't such a 'Prima Dona', you know?" Cedric stated as his wings shifted and disappeared by his back.

"First, I don't know what a 'Prima Dona' is, but I suppose is one of those expressions you picked from Earth." Phobos spoke. "Second, what should I have done? Let you electrocute me? Again?"

Cedric was about to say 'yes', but he held his tongue. He looked a little annoyed at the position both men were in. "Can we dispel these weapons and have a civilized conversation, or whatever you have come to do here?"

"I'm not dispelling my weapon if you aren't doing the same." Phobos said. "At the count of three?"

"One" Cedric counted after nodding.

"Two" continued Phobos.

"Three!" said both men, but none dispelled their weapons, and both rapier and javelin continued at each other's throats.

"I think that I'm starting to understand what Miranda meant…" Cedric admitted, understanding the surrealism of the situation.

"Each one takes five steps backwards?" Phobos suggested, to which Cedric agreed after a little mumbling between his teeth.

One by one and at the same time, each man took five steps back from the other. After that they dispelled their weapons and stared at one another. "What do you want?" Cedric asked Phobos.

"Aside earning you a reprimand from Miranda later?" Phobos asked. "Not very much."

Cedric hissed, and electricity ran through his body, spiking his long, blond hair upwards and making his eyes glow. Phobos put his hands in front of him, palms directed to Cedric. "Calm down, it was just a funny remark." The former tyrant said smirking. "My sister wants to reward and thank both you and Miranda for your efforts and hard work; and so you are invited to a little (how did she describe it?) … 'tea party' in the castle tomorrow in the afternoon."

"That's all?" Cedric asked, a little suspicious. He had been weary and also a little afraid of what Elyon could do once Miranda and himself weren't of no more use for the Queen. Yet again, she had said that she wanted to work with them, not have them to work for her.

"That is all" Phobos answered. "And please, attend and be punctual; you don't have to expect a betrayal from neither of us. My sister is not me, Cedric; she had insisted on how valuable you are. After all, you couldn't have those powers if it wasn't for her."

"You are not acting, aren't you?" Cedric asked as he closed his arms. "It's not a deception you are as loyal to her as you are sounding."

"Why shouldn't I?" Phobos asked. "She is my sister, my relative by blood, who rescued me from the pit of poignancy myself had dragged me into. Why shouldn't I be loyal to her?"

" _A poignancy you were put in by her own hands_ " Cedric thought, but he didn't voice it. Instead he looked at Phobos. "And how is the Queen doing? Where is she right now?" he asked.

"Sleeping, resting." Phobos answered. "She has been working too much lately, she deserves a rest." the former tyrant said as he walked towards the wall as his shadow grew and casted itself in said wall. "Just remember to attend to her petition."

"Phobos!" Cedric said as the Prince disappeared, entering his own grown shadow. "What is going to happen now?"

"Something that both of us agree upon, even with our differences." Phobos answered while his body disappeared in the shadow. "Kandrakar is going to fall, under the weight of its own failures. And when the dust settles and the storm has passed, the only ones that will stand as winners will be us."

And with those words, Phobos entered his own shadow and it melted with the wall, disappearing. Cedric looked at the former tyrant's unusual form of travelling, and raising an eyebrow, he looked around the room, his eyes stopping at the shattered chair and the cracked wall where Phobos had been sitting and had clashed, respectively.

"Agh…" Cedric sighed. "Lot is going to make me pay from my own for this…"

* * *

 ** _The castle_**

"Her Majesty is not to be molested" Irvine remarked as she stood between the door of Elyon's chamber and the figures of Raythor and Drake. "She is resting now, sleeping. She is tired."

"All of us are tired" Raythor remarked, looking sternly at the maid, which earned him one of the woman's usual cold stares.

"You will have to excuse us, Irvine" said Drake into a more polite tone. "But we aren't able to locate Caleb, and we are worried about him. After what happened with Julian, we think that he could do some…"

"We think that he could put his own life in danger doing some stupid, impulsive thing" Raythor said without complications.

"Are you suggesting that he could take his own life?" Irvine asked without any trace of emotion, as per usual. This stamen made Drake shiver.

"No" the young man said. "He couldn't do that. He… he just couldn't."

"Caleb may be hurt" Raythor said, "but he is not one to take the cowards way. I feel more worried about the idiot who dares to cross his path now than about him. But that in itself is a worrisome matter."

"And why do you need the Queen?" Irvine asked. "You can search for him by yourselves, don't you think?"

"But the Queen could just locate…" Drake complained, but Raythor stopped him by putting a hand over his shoulder.

"Let's go Drake, we won't get anything here." Raythor said, and both soldiers turned around and left Irvine, and by extension the Queen's chambers, alone.

As they turned a corner, Raythor shook his head. "I like that woman less and less every time I met with her. I'm starting to grow suspicious."

Drake raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Suspicious of what?"

Raythor took a deep breath. "When he invaded the Infinite City, Tracker taunted me by saying that there was a traitor, or traitors, among the court. At first I dismissed it, but then I commented it to the Queen, and she ordered me to start an investigation with the help of one person of my choosing."

"Was it Julian?" Drake asked, to which Raythor nodded.

"At first we thought that it was a member of the High Commanding, but after what happened with Tracker and Phobos…" the old Galhot remarked. "I have started to think that it could be a minister… or even that wretched maid Irvine. After all, who else knows about the Queen's whereabouts the entire time? Who could pass information about the castle so easily?"

Drake stopped in his tracks after Raythor's questions, his face a mixture between confusion and, for some reason, something very similar to horror. He looked back, into the Queen's chambers direction, and he narrowed his eyes. He then started to walk again alongside Raythor. "Yes, you are right, Raythor." Drake said, as his mind started to tie loose ends, all the clues falling in line.

"Who?"

* * *

 ** _Queen Elyon's chambers_**

Elyon lied in her massive regal bed, blankets over her body until reaching her chest, arms over them. She curled in her sleep and leaned over her right side, eyes closed in deep sleep. She really needed a resting, and in the moment she went to bed she insisted for Irvine to not let anyone inside in order to get a full-night sleep. And knowing the maid, she wouldn't let anyone to disturb her; that's how loyal the black haired woman was to Elyon. Everything had gone according to how she had planned it, and she was happy for it. Hell, some things had gone even better! At first she had thought of getting everything marching with only Tracker, Cedric and Miranda… but then the opportunity of turning her brother into a Hierophant presented itself, and it had gone smoothly. Now she also had Phobos in her side, and considering that she had sent messages to Earth and Arkhanta, Yua, Maqui and the Count should be at the meeting she had called tomorrow. All the Hierophants hadn't been in one place at the same time since… they never had been in the same place at the same time. And of course, her little confident in the Fortress of Light would keep the Council of Kandrakar as busy as possible, ready to strike when the time came.

Everything was going so perfectly! But after all, the Gods were on her side. That was the reason she could enjoy a tranquil sleep this night. She had earned it, she deserved rest. And so, in her sleep she dreamed, Queen Elyon Escanor dreamed. And in a dream, she remembered, her memories brought back in front of her eyes as if they were a film.

She remembered, that fateful day not so long ago, when Trill let the mask to fall and revealed herself as whom she truly was. That fateful day months ago…

Inside the Jewel

* * *

 ** _Almost a year ago_**

"After all, we must save the Queen" an old, wrinkled sorcerres, Nerissa Crossnic said mockingly as she let her glamour as the Mage to be dispelled and held the aquamarine jewel that had siphoned both Elyon and her powers. She held up the jewel to her eye level, chuckling at the sight of a miniaturized Elyon banging on the walls of the jewel. "Mustn't we?" said the sorceress chuckling, as Elyon's punches in the jewel's walls became more intense and desperate.

* * *

 ** _Inside the Jewel_**

Elyon was practically shouting her lungs out. Idiot, she had been a complete idiot! And as she punched the walls of her mother's crown jewel, she noted how her hands were being damaged by the impacts. After a few more time of hitting and shouting she decided to stop, her hands in pain and full of little bruises, and her throat dry. Elyon Brown looked around. Not Elyon Escanor; not Elyon, the Iron Queen; and neither the all powerful Light of Meridian. Just normal, emotional, a little childish and kind Elyon Brown; who liked to paint and whose worst preoccupation with her regal duties were the classes Miss Rudolf was going to give her. Or at least, those were her worries before getting trapped here.

She was floating in some sort of cloudy space of a very similar color to the jewel. Since the first moment, she had tried to call for help and gain the attention of her adoptive parents and Caleb, to no avail. Not only Trill had resulted to be a fraud, but also the Mage, who had been so helpful not only to her, but also the Rebellion… And Elyon knew that if there was someone to blame, that was herself. How could she be so idiotic to believe what 'Trill' had showed her into that vision? How could she have believed that her mother could have loved Phobos more than her? If that was the case, then Phobos could have been King, and her mother could have allowed it! And so Phobos would never have taken siege of the Throne and a Rebellion could have never happened!

And she was so eager to be a Queen… Someone like her wasn't fit to be a Queen. Two times! She had been played like a fiddle two times! First Phobos, now this! And albeit this sorceress had done it in a much intelligent manner, a manipulation was still a manipulation. She let her body float in the aquamarine limbo. She could still see what transpired outside the jewel if she wanted to, but that was probably the sorceress way of mocking her, letting Elyon see what kind of damage she could do with her powers.

" _Cornelia…_ " she though as her mind travelled back to her friend on Earth. After Phobos re-imprisonment as the Knights of Vengeance's, the Guardians would thought of Meridian's problems as solved, and so they won't travel here in very long time. On top of that, this old hag had just told her parents and Caleb that there was no way to travel to Earth and ask for help… and that was a lie, she knew it was a lie. She knew everything that came from this old hag's mouth had to be a lie.

She sat as best as she could in the limbo that was the inside of the jewel, legs closed and her elbows over her knees. She rested her head in her palms an waited for something remarkable to happen outside the jewel…

* * *

Elyon hated this. For several hours she had to float here and watch forcefully how the old hag terrorized her people and wrecked havoc in Meridian. Just to show off how incredibly powerful she was. Elyon knew that was in no need to test her powers; she wasn't using the Light of Meridian itself, more like boosting her own 'Lightning Power' with the energy she had gathered inside the jewel; which meant that this old bitch was destroying everything and making people ran scared from her just for the heck of it. Even if smarter, it was clear to Elyon that there was no difference between this evil granny and Phobos.

Interestingly, between the screams of the citizens and the destruction of buildings, Elyon had noted how incredibly similar the hag's powers and Will's were. No, what the hell, they were the fucking same. How was that even possible? Did she manage to

"Another time, child." Elyon heard the sorceress say to Caleb, teleporting as he swung his sword towards her and cut nothing but air.

"Great," Elyon said. "Now she is so overconfident that she leaves Caleb alive just to taunt him. That's pretty arrogant, right?" Then she looked at her side, and laughed a little. "Oh yeah; I'm alone." Elyon said.

Both sorceress and imprisoned Queen were back a the Mage's workshop. Elyon had been here a couple of times in person, when she was still the Queen, in order to consult some doubt over her powers from the 'Mage'. As the old sorceress put on a glamour again, Elyon thought of how many of the kind words that the old hag had told her as trill, or how many of the lessons she had been taught by her as the Mage had been true… probably none of them.

"That child," said the old sorceress, and Elyon deduced that she was speaking about Caleb. "He will kill himself one of those days out of pure pigheadedness…"

"Why the hell is she sounding so… _caring_?" Elyon asked aloud, quite dumbfounded and surprised about the sudden change of tone and mood. She almost looked nostalgic… but that faded when a sound gained both masked sorceress and imprisoned Queen's attention. Walking very fast (Elyon doubted that this woman could really run) Blunk and Caleb were found getting hold of the Passling's Tonga Tooth by the 'Mage'.

The glamoured hag's hand moved fast and stopped Caleb from taking the Tooth. "It is not yet safe." she said. "The curse has proven difficult to lift."

"Don't care." Caleb said, moving his griped arm away from the 'Mage'. "You said that only the person who uses the tooth will be destroyed. If I do the folding, Blunk can still warn the Guardians."

"Caleb too pretty to be destroyed!" Elyon heard Blunk, and she couldn't retain a chuckle. The imprisoned Queen also noted the sorceress eyeing Caleb.

"If you are determined" the 'Mage' said, "there is one last spell, but the risk…!"

"Just do it!" Caleb said in determination, and Elyon smiled. Now there was the man her best friend had fallen in love with!

After that, the 'Mage' made a display of sparks and said something in a tongue Elyon didn't know. "I don't know if it worked" said the disguised hag. "The tooth could still destroy you."

But Caleb wasn't afraid to sacrifice his life, and so he took the tooth and folded anyway. As the Fold enveloped both human and Passling with its light, Elyon and the sorceress were left alone again, and the hag dropped the glamour, revealing her true appearance once again.

"I wanted those fools of the Fortress away from my business a little more time, but I suppose it's time for a reunion. Still…" the hag looked at where Caleb had stood, but then she shook her head. "No, no need to worry about. Everything goes according to plan."

"Weird." Elyon said aloud. "You are weird, old hag."

* * *

"Why didn't you inform me about this sooner?" Oracle Himerish asked the 'Mage' as she had explained to him what had happened to Elyon… except she had omitted that she was the culprit; that she was posing as the Mage and that Elyon was right there, seeing and hearing _everything_.

"The sorceress… she did something to my ring. I couldn't fold away, neither I could inform you or the Guardians about what has happened to Elyon."

Elyon watched in disbelief as the Oracle completely bought that story. Okay, wasn't this guy supposed to be the ' _All powerful, All knowing_ ' ultimate protector of the universe? Why couldn't he, who was called ' _Oracle_ ', see that the _bad guy_ was just in front of him?!

"Wait, what happened to Elyon?" she heard a voice; a familiar and welcomed voice.

"Cornelia!" Elyon shouted in joy, but her warm feeling faded when the news was delivered and Cornelia's and the others' faces changed from surprise, to horror, to sadness and finally anger. "No, I'm right here, I'm okay! Well, as okay as I can be trapped inside a jewel…"

"So the hag has Elyon." Will said.

Then Yan Lin intervened. Looking from the jewel, the young Queen could see that the chinese elder looked smaller than usual, a little tired considering how high spirited she usually was for her age. "It's worse." she said. "That hag is Nerissa."

After the mention of that name, Halinor, Alfor and even the Oracle looked shocked. "No!" they shouted at the same time.

"Impossible" the Mage whispered.

" _Yeah_ " Elyon thought with disdain as she rolled her eyes. " _Impossible my ass_."

"Are you certain of this?" the Oracle asked Yan Lin, who nodded at his question.

"Okay, see I didn't bring my who's who from Kandrakar, so Nerissa is...?" Elyon heard Irma, asking her question in her usual snarky manner. But she couldn't agree more. Now her captor had a name, but what did it mean? Why did everyone in the Council seemed so surprised about it?

"As you know, you are not the first Guardians. Decades ago there were five others: Cassidy, Halinor, Yan Lin, Kadma... and Nerissa." Oracle Himerish explained, to everyone's confusion, especially Elyon's.

What followed was something that could have fit into one of that Greek Tragedies Elyon had read about in school. So Nerissa was Will's predecessor, as much as Yan Lin was her own granddaughter's. But she had been corrupted by the power of the Heart of Kandrakar, and the Oracle had taken it from her and given it to Cassidy, the woman who held Irma's position before. And Nerissa, driven by envy and resentment, had killed Cassidy. And so the Oracle and her own companions had imprisoned her… in a mountain, alone, in front of the place where she had killed a person. Elyon rolled her eyes. Even she had imprisoned her brother in a prison. Didn't Kandrakar have a prison? Something called Tower of… _whatever_?

" _Note to self_ " Elyon thought as Halinor explained how during Phobos' tyranny they couldn't maintain surveillance over Nerissa and how the 'Mage' explained her (own) escape. " _If I ever get out… when I get out of this jewel; don't let Kandrakar take Phobos here. The results could be disastrous._ " Elyon sighed and started to flow in the aquamarine limbo upside down. Or maybe not, it was hard to find a supporting point without any floor. Or gravity.

"Nerissa is a greater threat now, than she was then." Oracle Himerish said as Elyon floated and looked at him. "Every world has a source of mystic energy, like the Heart of Kandrakar. Elyon was the Heart of Meridian. With her power, Nerissa's might equals the five of yours...combined."

Wait… what?! She had been a Heart the entire time?! So her body was like Will's jewel? And Kandrakar had known? Why did everyone keep information from her?! First her adoptive parents, then the girls, and then her own kingdom! Why was everyone so afraid of telling things the way they were?!

"At least, she doesn't know we're on to her." Elyon heard Will after her tantrum. "If we head to Meridian now, we can still _take her down_."

The 'Mage' made a funny expression. "Hmmm, a wise plan." she said.

It wasn't. It wasn't a wise plan at all.

* * *

"Have I told you that I hate this?" Elyon asked to nobody. "I will say it again: I hate this!"

It had been disastrous. Nerissa had mopped the floor with all the girls, and she had even put Caleb into a lightning cage so she wouldn't have to bother with spending energy onto him. Then she had gone after Taranee, and if not for Yan Lin's and Halinor's intervention, Elyon was sure that Nerissa could have won. Elyon had noted how once people with experience had power to backup said experience, they usually won against the girls or her by far. When Phobos had stolen her powers, he had dominated the fight until she had showed up. And the same could be said about Nerissa, it was clear that she had much more tricks up her sleeve aside from 'shooting lightning', and with the Heart of Meridian as a battery, she could do almost everything.

"I didn't expect those old fools to show up" Nerissa said to herself. She was standing in Mount Thanos, in the cave that had been her prison for so many years. It actually was a good place for hiding, Elyon noted. Mount Thanos was an inactive volcano, but the magma still travelled underground, making its caves and tunnels warm, especially in comparison with the snow outside. "This could be a problem; I cannot afford to lose more time with them when I have so many things to do." Elyon saw how Nerissa tapped her left cheek with her metal arm, and how her face turned from a frown to a wicked smile. "Yes, perhaps I need some assistance; and if handled well, I could have even more power at my disposal." Nerissa raised the jewel that contained Elyon and looked at it, the young Queen facing an (from her perspective) enormous wrinkled and devious face. "Yes… even if they were nothing but puppets, the Knights of Vengeance were a force not to be messed with, and they proved very useful. Perhaps I require more Knights to assist me, but Vengeance seems pointless now. I think that… _Destruction_ is what we need."

Elyon saw Nerissa to lower the jewel and start walking away. "Wait, what does that mean?" the Queen said, but by know she knew that Nerissa couldn't heard her, and probably wasn't aware that Elyon was looking at everything she was doing. "What does that mean?!" she repeated in impotence.

* * *

Streams of Quintessence mixed with the mist form of an ugly demon flew towards the body of Matt Olsen. The energy collided with him, and his body started to morph. Black, feathery wings burst out from his back, his musculature grow, and a tail appeared from his lower backside. It was clear that it was a painful experience.

"You are Shagon" Nerissa said to the winged man that was now in front of her, a golden, emotionless mask in his face. "My Angel of Malice. Just like Khor feeds in anger, you will feed in the hate of your enemies"

"Yes, mistress." Shagon said, speaking for the first time in his life.

"No!" yelled Elyon form inside the aquamarine limbo. "No, you can do that, you bitch! That was Will's boyfriend, you… you _fuckhole_!"

Elyon was punching, not banging, _punching_ ; the walls of the jewel yet again. There was blood dripping from her knuckles more and more as she kept hitting, and she was crying of pure powerlessness. "Stop it, I say!" the fallen Queen yelled, even if she knew that no one would answer to her pleas. "Stop using my power for that! Stop… stop, please… please, I'm begging you," Elyon said between tears. She tried to clean her face but only achieved dirtying it more with the blood falling from her wounded hands. " _Stop_ _using me_ …"

Elyon stopped hitting the wall. It was pointless, everything was pointless. Screaming, talking, thinking, crying… it was all to no avail. So she let the no-gravity of the aquamarine limbo to made her float away. She closed her eyes and let her body to go without direction. She needed to sleep a little.

* * *

The girls had won their second round with the Knights of Destruction; but for very close. And in their first encounter the four creatures had humiliated them. And Nerissa looked from afar, laughing at her creations display. To the mutated Mr. Huggles and Matt, Nerissa had added Tridart and Ember; a piece of ice and a bunch of lava given life by Nerissa's… no! By her power! It was the Heart of Meridian that had allowed the sorceress' Quintessence to be powerful enough that she could create such things!

Why is always her power? Why is always Elyon the one to be used as a weapon against innocent people? It was not fair! She was…! She was stupid, and childlike, and naïve, and too shortsighted. Queen of Meridian? Elyon laughed sarcastically. She had never stopped being that innocent girl of Heatherfield, easy to be manipulated. If Will or Taranee had been in her shoes, they could have done so many questions, search for second opinions, and contrast the information they were given before believing it. She had been stupid, so, so stupid…

She looked outside again; it was the only thing to do aside from floating and talking to a bunch of mist that she had compressed in one cloud in order to have someone to talk to. She had called it Mr. Cloudie; because, well, it was a cloud. But it was soft and sweet at touch, and that was enough.

Nerissa and Shagon were standing now before a grave, and Shagon was doing a very creepy thing with a bouquet of flowers while thinking, apparently, about Will. Great, not only Nerissa had to twist Matt into Shagon, but also his love relationship with the redhead into one of hatred. Nerissa waved her hand and Shagon was teleported away, and the old sorceress was left alone. Raising the jewel, she conjured a powerful stream of Quintessence and directed it to the grave. After the lightning faded, Elyon looked in almost awe at how the ghostly form of a woman in her early twenties raised from it.

"Nerissa…" she whispered. "Wow! You look awful."

" _Okay_ " Elyon thought. " _That one was funny_."

* * *

Cassidy Chacon. Former Water Guardian. Funny, snarky, cheering. And dead. Dead by Nerissa's hands. And brought back to life by those same hands too. Well, she was not back living, but she was back among the living.

Elyon found herself actually liking this woman. She seemed like a more well thought version of Irma... which wasn't very surprising, considering that both shared element. Maybe that's how it worked? Was having a certain personality a condition to be a certain type of Guardian?

Independently of how that worked, Elyon couldn't avoid smiling every time that Cassidy didn't do as Nerissa pleased. Elyon knew that there was something horrible behind all that thing of being alive again, but so far Cassidy had looked down in all of Nerissa's offers. In the beach, in the hospital... she answered with mocking to anything Nerissa said.

Until now.

"Mom?" Cassidy asked with a broken voice. In front of them was a small and old woman, even older than Yan Lin. It was Cassidy's mother, Emily. Looking at how incredibly beaten she seemed, how outliving her daughter had affected her, Elyon remembered her mother. How was Miridiael doing? Last time she had seen her, Elyon had yelled at her. And at her father. She missed them. And she missed her friends. Will, Irma, Taranee, Hay Lin, Alchemy, Caleb...

And Cornelia.

"Oh, c'mon!" an offended and angry Elyon yelled from within her imprisonment, unable to keep up with Nerissa's manipulations. "This is low even for you! Nerissa!" but her protest weren't heard.

Instead, Cassidy surrendered and admitted that she wanted to live. That was when Nerissa said the words that would mark Elyon for the rest of her life. "Compassion is a powerful thing. Especially when it fuels desire. The desire for something you cannot; should not have is the chink in the armor of your soul, and all I need to make you mine!"

And as Cassidy became nothing but Nerissa's puppet and both women were teleported back to mount Thanos, were the Knights of Destruction awaited, Elyon screamed in anger and punched the walls of the jewel again.

"Stop it, you bitch!" Elyon shouted. She had sensed it, hear it, smell it, taste it; feel in her skin. As she had felt in her skin Khor's anger, Shagon's hate, Tridar's despair and Ember's pain. She had felt how Nerissa had bounded Cassidy to her will. How she had done to Cassidy what Elyon herself had done to Aldarn months ago, albeit into a much powerful form.

"Stop it!" Elyon yelled again. And punched yet again.

And again. "Stop using my power for this!"

And she punched again. And as she had experienced before, she felt blood dripping in between and from her fingers. But she continued punching and punching; and not crying, but screaming, shrieking in pure anger. Why did everybody have to do that? Play into people's weaknesses, find something that they love, or want, or care about and twist it in their advantage?

Lies. It all comes down to lies. Phobos, Nerissa, Miranda, Cedric… and even Cornelia and the girls. Why does everyone lie? Nerissa had lied now too, and Elyon knew it! She knew that the old hag didn't have any intention of bringing Cassidy back to life or reunite her with her mother! She just wanted control and power! Liars! Liars all of them!

Elyon screamed again and kept punching the wall of the jewel, no matter how much blood she drew out of her hands. She kept punching and punching, screaming her lungs out and with her eyes injected in blood, her sclera red from the anger. She kept punching and punching… until she heard a noise.

* ** _Crunch_** *

Elyon felt to her knees and looked at her hand. Her fingers had broken. They were crushed and twisted due to the force of the impact; all five of them bathed in blood. The other hand wasn't any better. And for some odd reason, Elyon looked ahead, at how Nerissa walked towards a little bed prepared inside Mount Thanos' cave, the sorceress getting ready to sleep; and she charged to the wall of the jewel, head first. She collided with the wall with a sonorous *clonk*; and she fell to the ground, her head itching in pain as a thin line of blood started to come down her head, dirtying her straw blonde hair.

That was when Elyon cried. She cried out of sadness, she cried out of loneliness, cried out of impotence, and out of anger and hatred. She cried out of despair.

This was Elyon Brown's turning point. In another timeline, perhaps she could have gotten a lesson from all of this. That people have weaknesses and that is wrong to play into them to manipulate said people. In that hypothetical timeline, Elyon could have become a wise and benevolent Queen; the best Queen that Meridian ever could had; truly a Light of that world. But this wasn't the case; this wasn't that hypothetical timeline; because Nerissa had committed an error in her statement. True, compassion is a powerful thing, but it's not what fuels Desire.

Desire is fueled by Despair. And in her despair, Elyon Brown screamed and suffered without any limit. In her Despair, in that bottomless pit where the prayers of the damned cannot reach any God of the Light, any Nymph, or any Dragon; in that moment when your spirit breaks in tears; Elyon Brown's Desire burned with passion. She Desired for freedom, vengeance, pity, and truth. And the Desire of a natural Heart, the Desire of a Queen of Escanor, powerless or not; was still great. It was enough to broke the sea and cut the heavens! It was enough to wound reality itself, especially when the Queen was inside her own Heart. It was the same…

 _As opening a Puzzle Box_

* * *

 ** _Unknown location_**

"Where am I?"

Elyon woke up into a strange room, as if she had lost consciousness prior to this point. It was a room without windows, any doors or any furniture. It was a weird room, completely decorated in alternative black and white tiles. It looked like being encaged into a weird cube made of chessboards. At first, the young Queen thought that she was dreaming. But then she looked at her hands and saw how they were still completely trashed. Then she heard footsteps, small and fast footsteps.

"Young Queen _…_ " she heard a whispering and raspy voice, and a portion of the wall in front of her opened up as if it was a door, revealing a small, humanoid creature entered by it. The creature, its skin wrinkled and pale as a corpse's was bald and had very small arms and legs, it's torso a bulged out belly. He was naked, and even if Elyon didn't want to, she noticed that it had no reproduction organs. It had pointy ears and its eyes didn't have eyelids, moving frenetically. Its mouth was half open, revealing that it had few teeth, and they were quite irregular. Molars where the canines should be, canines where the molars should be… it was almost as if the creature had gone here and there, picking teeth from other bodies and stocking them in its mouth.

"Young Queen…" the creature said again, and it approached Elyon. Kneeling down, the creature took Elyon's hands and kissed them. And with that kiss, her hands healed, bones returned to their place and wounds closing up. Elyon raised her hands to her eye-level and looked at them in surprise and awe. The creature slammed it head against the floor, gaining the straw blonde's attention. "Young Queen… the Great Old Ones… The Four request… an audience with you." the creature pointed to the door, "Go, they are waiting for you… so much time, waiting, singing in the Wound World…"

And for no reason, or maybe for a reason she didn't understand, Elyon did as said, and walked outside the black and white rom. What she found was a stair, a stair that as she started to walk up by, she noticed how it went upside, then downside, then to the left, then down again, then to the right, back and forth and so on. It was like a twisted spiral that went forward and backward at the same time, and made Elyon walk upside down. Good thing that she was accustomed to a place without real gravity by now. " _Where am I?_ " she thought. " _Is this a dream? One of Nerissa's tricks? And what the hell is that… song?_ "

Yes, there was a song. A song accompanied by a set of strident and powerful trumpets. But the song, it seemed so peaceful, and the four voices singing it were so beautiful…

" **Ah, the moment of our meeting has finally come** " Elyon heard a metallic and powerful voice that sounded like an explosion.

" **After all these millennia waiting, here you are. You are cuter than I thought.** " a seductive and oversweet voice said with a cruel and playful hint in the end.

" **Come! Come to us, young Queen!** " said a maniacal and strident voice.

" **We are kindred**." a voice very similar to the one of a child, but that also sounded without emotion said. " **We are your family."**

" ** _Our dear Queen of the Nostalgia!_** "

Elyon was speechless. She had walked and climbed the stairs until she was at the top of some sort of building. It was a strange and twisted building, and in her surroundings, Elyon could see other ones, and she was sure that buildings shouldn't operate like that. They weren't only twisted, they had stairs and halls going in and out of them into a random pattern… just seeing them gave Elyon a headache. But that was nothing compared with the enormous, creatures with tentacles that were lurking around the buildings. They were like giant octopuses, but they had too many tentacles, too many mouths, too many eyes… and that's not saying how big they were, and how many they were. And they were playing that trumpet sonata, like a parody of the royal tune that her musicians had played for her when she arrived at an official meeting. But even those creatures were nothing compared with the ones that were standing in front of her in the top of the twisted building.

In front of Elyon were four… _persons_. Yes, she would think about them as persons, instead of whatever they really were. At her right, she saw a massive and bulky armor-like… _guy_ , of about two and a half meters of stature, more or less. He was incredibly muscular, and at first Elyon had thought that there had to be someone inside the armor… until she saw the white flames that came from the visor of it helmet. It was a living set of silver armor, and it was there, standing in front of Elyon, his muscular arms crossed over his chest.

At the right of the armor-guy Elyon saw a… woman. But it was not a normal woman. Standing a little smaller than the armor-guy, she had scarlet skin and a toned body; and Elyon noted how her body was the most curvaceous one that she had ever seen. Her lips were almost fire, her eyes burning with passion; and her boobs and hips were incredibly generous and pleasing to the eye. It could have been gorgeous for any man or woman, except that her teeth were pointy, little fangs. And her tongue looked like a worm. And her hair was an amalgam of white tentacles, each one with multiple mouths and their own pointy fangs and worm-tongues. She was completely naked, and Elyon saw how out of her belly, insectoid arms and legs moved in and out, like babies that were in the process of being born but didn't want to get out of the womb. A part of Elyon didn't know if get excited of repulsed. Well, a part of her really wanted to get excited, but she repressed it.

At her most left Elyon saw a really tall individual; and she noted that he was the tallest one of the four. It was man garbed in a black robe with gold trim. He had a frail body made only of pitch-black skin and bones and nothing in the face except for a mouth full of sick, yellow and cartoonish rectangular teeth; perpetually depicting a macabre grin from ear to ear. It had no eyes, no ears, no nose and not even hair. And his skeletal arms were large, as large as his body was tall, and seeming how he was the tallest one it looked

The fourth one was standing between the tall scarecrow-guy and the scarlet skinned voluptuous woman. And Elyon was terrified of him. It looked like a small, androgynous child, a couple of years older than Cornelia's sister, maybe. It had a mane of obsidian hair and his skin was of a white, sickening marble tone. He was dressed into a white and almost transparent gown that let his silhouette to be seen with the right illumination. But his eyes… no, those weren't eyes, Elyon noted. Those were simply two holes where the eyes should be, and there was something moving inside of them, a twirling void of endless darkness. Elyon felt… so incredibly frightened y him. He was the smaller one of the four, yet her mind had reacted to him in a much more terrified way than with the other three. He looked so… not-alive.

All of them looked wrong. So unnatural, so inhuman, and yet so _fascinating_. Elyon couldn't take her sight from them, even if she wanted to. For various minutes that seemed like an eternity, no one said anything. Those four just kept staring at her, and she kept staring at them. Then the scarlet woman spoke.

" **Are you scared of us?** " she asked. " **You shouldn't be.** "

" **Can someone like you even feel fear by this point?** " the armor-guy asked. " **With everything that had transpired in your life, can you feel fear anymore, Elyon Escanor?** "

"I… me…" Elyon mumbled. "Wh-who are you? How do you know my name?"

" **Oh look, she asked 'who'!** " the skeletal man sad, his cartoonish grin widening even more, if that was even possible. Apparently it was. " **Normally people only ask 'what'!** " The voice of this guy was too much. Too high-pitched, too acute. It sounded like someone scratching a crystal.

" **Enough with the sideshow** " the child-like one spoke, silencing the other three. " **She has asked for who we are, so presentations are in order.** "

" **I am the Fourth One.** " Elyon heard the armor-like guy spoke. " **Moloch, the Conqueror.** "

" **I am the Third One**." the scarlet woman said. " **Qetesh, the Tempter**."

" **I am the Second One!** " the scarecrow-guy said. " **Ba'al Zaabub, the Devourer!** "

" **And I am the First One and the Elder One.** " the child spoke. " **Vritra, the Enveloper.** "

" ** _And we are explorers in the further regions of experience. Guardians of Desire; the Four Royals of the Supernatural_** "

Elyon took her hands to her ears when they spoke at the same time. It was deafening; their tone's volume had increased so much when they had spoken at the same time. Note to self: procure for them to not do that again.

"This…" Elyon said. "This is a dream, right? Yes, of course is a dream. Or maybe a trick of Nerissa… You hearing me old hag? It's not funny!"

Then the whole space around Elyon shocked, and she felt to her knees, trembling under the pressure of a sudden increase in power. The one that had called himself Moloch was looking at her, and the white flames of his visor danced with fury. " **Tell me, does this power seem an illusion to you? Do We seem to be puppets of the pathetic fallen Nymph? Preposterous!** "

At his last remark, the building they were standing trembled violently, as if it was afraid of this man's Wrath. The Qetesh woman only chuckled, bringing her right claw to her meaty lips. " **You will have to forgive our brother. He doesn't take well being compared with someone or something beneath us. Yet again, neither I take well being compared to a pathetic ugly hag like that…** "

" _This is not a dream_ " Elyon thought with fear. " _This is not a dream, oh God; where the hell am I? Where had I ended?_ "

" **If you want to think about this like a dream, you can!** " Ba'al said in his usual high-pitched voice. He raised one of his overly long arms about his head and pointed to the sky, like some sort of teacher about to give a lesson. " **But it being a dream doesn't mean that it isn't real! What happens in your dreams can be as real, if no more, that what happens in the waking world, especially when you are in a place like this. Through dreams we influence the minds of all living beings, through their dreams they express their desires!** "

"Their desires…?" Elyon asked, almost in low whisper.

" **Desire is** " Qetesh started saying as she put her claws over her massive chest forming the shape of a heart, " **the energy that keeps this universe moving** **around**."

" **It was your intense desire which opened a Wound inside that jewel and brought you here**." Vritra spoke in his childish yet nightmarish voice. " **It was you who asked for us, so we came and took you here.** "

"Where is 'here'?" Elyon asked, still trying to process what was happening.

" **You are in the Wound World** " Moloch answered " **where the Abyss becomes physical.** "

" **This world is our beautiful home**." Qetesh said. " **Isn't it lovely?** "

Ba'al continued. " **An intersection between our dear Abyss and your reality, that's what this place is! Here space is deformed, time goes as it pleases, and gravity doesn't work how it should!** "

" **It's basically what you humans call 'Hell'.** " Vritra stated. " **It's the origin and source of Desire.** "

"I am in hell?" Elyon asked, her fear taking hold of her whole body. "How? How is this supposed to be Hell? How did I end here? How is this possible?!"

" **Weren't you listening, cutie?** " Qetesh told her. " **Your Desire opened a Wound and brought you here. If you are here it means that you must be here.** "

" **That's what we usually call 'fate'** " Vritra explained. " **Or causality, the one that more suits you. It means that you were destined to come here, met with us. It means that you are marked as a Hierophant.** "

"Hiero-what?" Elyon asked, and she decided that she had have enough of this crap. "Okay, it was funny and all. Meeting with you, Demon-Royals, or whatever you are, but I think that I have to really get going now…"

" **To where?!** " Ba'al asked, chuckling. " **To that messy little prison of a jewel you were in?! You will be back to breaking your own hands in impotence at the sight of what that fallen Kandrakar whore does with your birth right?** "

Elyon stopped in her tracks. She turned around and faced the Four. She hadn't thought of that. She really was outside the jewel now, albeit in a much less favorable and friendly place.

" **You cannot go away, not yet**." Qetesh said and licked her lips with her worm-tongue. " **We have such sights to show you.** "

"What do you mean with that?" Elyon asked the woman.

" **What Qetesh means is that you have been marked as a Hierophant, a quite especial one no less, feel proud about that.** " Moloch explained. " **We have been waiting for you, Elyon Escanor, expecting you to call for us. And you are here, and it's time to pass trial.** "

" **And in order to pass trial, you have to reflect upon yourself and decipher what your true Desire is!** " Ba'al said in excitement, then he grinned more widely; to such a point in which his cheeks opened up as he opened his mouth in laughter.

" **You hate the fallen Guardian, Elyon** " Vritra spoke. " **Do you hate her? Or maybe you hate your brother's memory, brought back to you by the sorceress' methodology, so similar to his? Or maybe you hate the illusion itself? The manipulations? The lies?** "

Elyon eyed the Four, and closed her arms over her chest. For the first moment since she had laid her eyes over these monstrosities, she acted courageously; she acted as Queen should act. "Don't you know the answer to that already?"

" ** _Of course we know. But we have something very important to show you. And when you see it, you will understand, that you yourself are nothing but one of the lies that you hate so much_**."

* * *

And after those words, darkness enveloped Elyon and took hold of her. She lost track of time, and let the shadows to take her away…

"Where am I now?" Elyon asked aloud, the time in the jewel having accustomed her to talk to nobody while she was alone. Except that this time she wasn't.

" **In Meridian; at the castle, your home**." That voice… it was Moloch's, she could hear it, but she couldn't see the metallic demon knight. " **The day of your birth; look there, that's you. And your mother**."

Elyon looked and saw a woman with pure golden hair cradling a baby in her arms. That face, that hair… that was her mother, Queen Weira, exactly with the same aspect that Nerissa had showed her in that vision. But instead of behaving like a total bitch, Elyon thought of her as exactly the type of mother and high Queen that her adoptive parents described. There she was, looking at Elyon's baby form as lovely as she could.

And then her brother entered into the room. Elyon's stomach bulged for a moment after seeing Phobos. He was way smaller than she remembered him; actually he was even smaller than her now. But if she was a baby in that vision, Elyon thought that Phobos should be a pre-teen. Her brother and mother started a conversation, and Elyon cringed a little after seeing Phobos hold her baby self in his arms. Phobos didn't seem so different from what she was accustomed to. Emotionless and cold towards the baby, he deposited her in her crib.

And then he killed their mother.

Elyon wasn't so surprised about that. It had become clear after Phobos had showed his true intentions that he had done something horrible to their parents. What really surprised her was the name 'Galahad', which her brother said with… mourning in his voice?

"Who is Galahad?" Elyon asked.

" **Galahad was** " Moloch explained " **a Chimera (or as you know them, shapeshifters) boy that your brother loved and treasured more than anything else. In her hatred of shapeshifters, your mother made your brother to kill him with his own hands.** "

Elyon didn't say anything. She kept looking at young Phobos, and how he continued to thrust and twist the rapier in their mother's heart. "… What?" Elyon asked weakly.

" **Were you really thinking that Phobos was the only member of your family to kill innocents?** " Moloch said, and Elyon could heard a rather funny ring in it. " **Don't make me laugh. The Escanor bloodline is one born from conflict and war**."

"You don't know anything about my family!" Elyon yelled at the Abyss-Knight's voice.

" **But I do** " Moloch answered. " **After all, I'm where your family started**."

"What?" Elyon asked again.

" **Questions for later, young Queen.** " Moloch stated. " **Look, the breaking point that would seal your world's fate**."

Elyon watched as her brother approached the crib where she was sleeping… just to put her blankets in order and left her in peace. Elyon looked shocked at this. Why did her brother…?

" **Phobos was numerous things at that age** " Moloch explained. " **But if there was something that he wasn't, was a murderer of people that haven't done anything to him. Years and years of addiction to pure energy, thousands of corpses at his feet and dozens of assassins hired by the Rebellion in order to slice his throat would change that, eventually.** "

The space around Elyon distorted and twisted, and Moloch appeared at her side in person. From that distance she could note how incredibly crafted his armor-body was. It looked like one of those strange war machines of the medieval era in Earth that Elyon had seen just in books. Things made for killing, but that she also found ratter artistic.

Moloch pointed one of her muscled arms to the crib in which her baby form was resting, while Phobos abandoned the room. " **And here comes the strategist**."

After Phobos had exited the room, a green flash illuminated it, and a middle aged woman garbed in a black cloak with long black hair (albeit it had a lot of grey stripes in it) appeared in the room. She approached the crib in which baby Elyon was sleeping and took the baby from it. At doing so, Elyon could see how the woman's left arm was completely mechanical. It was Nerissa, albeit younger, much younger. "There, there; everything is okay, little Princess" the woman said as little Elyon started to wake up, disturbed by the prosthetic metal arm's touch. "Just sleep, we are going into a little trip across the Veil. If there is already one, but I suppose that idiot Himerish just raised it in the very first moment he sensed Weira's dead, not bothering to ask what she did to her own son." Nerissa looked at Elyon and made a funny face to the baby. "Do you now that I have a son? He is a few years older than you, though."

Nerissa held baby Elyon tightly and teleported away. The scene changed, and Elyon and Moloch appeared in the streets of Meridian, as the 'Mage', who by this point Elyon knew that had always been Nerissa in disguise; handled the bundle that was her baby self and a rhomboid-shaped talisman to a blonde woman in a cloak. "Walk fast and carefully. Phobos will do everything necessary to regain her sister, the true heir to the throne." the 'Mage' said to the woman, that Elyon was able to indentify as a young Mrs. Rudolf.

"Don't worry, great Mage" Mrs. Rudolf said as she held the baby tightly. "I won't disappoint you."

"Good." the glamoured Nerissa said. "Use the Seal of Phobos to go to Earth and meet with Alborn and Miridiael there. They have instructions and means to stay undetected on Earth, passing as humans. I already have given them the ability to glamour themselves for an extended time and a house and back-story so they can live without being molested. As for you, I have also arranged for a cover identity in Earth, in case the two captains need help in the protection of the Princess."

"Thank you, great Mage." Mrs. Rudolf answered. "But how were you able to prepare all of this in so little time?"

The 'Mage' sighed. "I was afraid that Phobs could attempt a cup eventually, so I had all of this prepared for some years before this night. I hope I would never have to use it, but…"

"No, no; please." Mrs. Rudolf apologized. "It was my fault for doubting you, ancient one. I shall be going be now."

"Be careful" the 'Mage' warned her. "I really doubt that the soldiers loyal to Phobos are able to look down into a woman as beautiful as you."

Mrs. Rudolf blushed a little, but then she clasped Elyon to her chest and started to run away, the Seal in hands. The 'Mage' looked at her go, and as she went, she let the glamour go. "Perfect. Now it's time to be patient and wait for an opportunity." Nerissa said, smiling malicious and greedily. "The Heart of Meridian… such overwhelming power… and in the end, it will be mine, no matter if Phobos or Elyon held it!"

And the scene ended, and the memory displayed in front of Elyon fell apart. And Elyon and Moloch were again in the so-called Wound World, at the top of the building. "Now, you see." Moloch said. "The reason behind your travel to Earth. This is truth."

"It was her, wasn't it?" Elyon asked, with a sad smile. "It was all her doing."

" **Mostly** " Moloch answered. " **But as I said, your family was born from bloodshed and war. That woman only took advantage of it**."

"Was my mother so horrid?" Elyon asked.

" **Not very much; mostly to Chimeras, and the Lurdens; but to Chimeras especially**." Moloch answered. " **But after all, a Queen is a woman that stands alone at the top of a hierarchy of soldiers. It's normal for a Queen to hate, it's normal for a Queen to want to destroy. In your mother's case, her Wrath was directed to shapeshifters**."

"That's not what a Queen should be!" Elyon yelled suddenly. She turned around and faced Moloch. "A Queen should took care of her subjects, and treat them in equal respect and rights!"

" **You didn't done so**." Moloch answered. " **You never bothered to understand why Phobos' followers were following him, or why they hated your regime. You just wanted to see them behind bars** **and you didn't want to hear or look to anything that could disturb your tiny perfect life. Queen of Meridian? You are just a girl playing princess that doesn't want to hear that anything she does is wrong. But that's the definition of Pride.** "

"Shut up!" Elyon shouted to him. "Shut up! Shut up!"

And the young Queen ran towards the armored man, hands as if to throw a punch. If Moloch still had a mouth, he could have smiled. " **Finally, I thought you would never try it.** "

As gained speed, she jumped and tried to punch Moloch in the face. And so she did, Moloch didn't bother with moving a finger. And as her fist connected with him, her arm exploded. Elyon fell to the ground, screaming in pain. The sheer resistance of Moloch's body had made her arm to explode just at contact! What the hell were these things?!

" **Did you really believe that an attack like that could harm me in the slightest?** " Moloch said as he approximated Elyon and took her by the throat. The mere contact of his skin seemed as if it was burning her soul. " **I am Moloch, the Conqueror. Long ago, I was Escanor, the First King of Meridian! I can destroy stars with my bare hands and you thought that punching me was a good idea? Let me show you, child, how you punch.** "

And after that sentence, Moloch freed Elyon's neck and punched her in her stomach as she fell. As she received the hit, Elyon noted how her body fell apart, molecule by molecule; atom by atom. And as she literally disintegrated, her mind fell to the dark one more time.

* * *

" **Wake up, little one.** " a sultry and seductive voice said. " **It's time for your next lesson.** "

Elyon woke up slowly. Her body restored to its normal state. Escanor, the First King. That monster was her ancestor, the man who was regarded in Meridian as a Saint. Suddenly, Phobos' and their mother's atrocities made much more sense.

Getting to her feet, Elyon was greeted with Qetesh's sight. She smiled at her. Elyon didn't like it; it was as if she was stripping her with that look. " **Hello, young Queen. I hope that Moloch wasn't very harsh with you.** "

Elyon didn't say anything. Instead, she just kept looking at the scarlet skinned woman. "Just show whatever you want to show me."

" **Ah, that's not a cute way to ask for it, but if you insist…** " the succubus said, and smirking she waved her hand and new scenery appeared in front the demon woman and the girl. " **There, this is the form of Desire that my Lust and my Envy represent. I think that there is no one that represents both better than…** "

"Mom?!" Elyon asked, completely shocked, as the scene displayed in front of her. She and Qetesh were in a room now. The scarlet skinned demon woman was standing near to Elyon and she had her hands on her hips, accentuating her curvaceous figure and humongous breasts. She seemed quite pleased by the fact that Elyon was trying to avoid looking at her, to no avail. The room in which they were in was a bedroom to be exact, a clear earthling bedroom. And in that bedroom there was a bed... in which slightly younger versions of her adoptive parents were having sex.

Both of them in their Galhot forms, Miridiael was over the body of Alborn, he with his back leaning against the bed's head. The woman had her arms wrapped around his neck and she was bouncing over her manhood, her average chest doing the same with each one of Alborn's pushes. They were looking at each other's eyes lasciviously and they exchanged passionate kisses from time to time. But the important part of the action was clearly focused in their hips. Her adoptive father was moving in a pace that Elyon could understand as 'normal' but Miridiael was moving rather violently, her hips moving up and down as fast as they could, a glee that bordered in maniacal running through her body.

"Oh my God!" Elyon yelled, turning around and putting her hands over her ears. She was blushing violently. But even if she was clapping her ears as strong as she could, she couldn't avoid hearing her mother's moans and his father's snorting.

" **Oh, what's wrong?** " Qetesh asked. " **Don't tell me that you are such a late bloomer?** "

"I am fourteen!" Elyon protested. "And I'm not going to watch my parents doing... _that_!"

" **Really?** " Qetesh asked. " **I insist.** "

As Qetesh said those words, Elyon felt how her hands dropped from her ears and her body turned around against her will, her eyes wide open, the young Queen unable to close them. Elyon felt how Qetesh positioned herself behind her and put her arms around her body, her claw-like hands over Elyon's stomach. Elyon could feel the succubus' breasts pressing against her head, Qetesh making the young Queen to use them as a pillow. Against her back, Elyon could feel the insectoid arms that were out of Qetesh' womb rubbing and scratching her clothes, cutting through them and scratching her skin.

" **Why would you turn around?** " the Tempter asked, whispering to Elyon's ear. " **This is a beautiful moment. Look at the gleeful expression in your mother's face; look at the effort that you father is putting in pleasuring her.** " Qetesh licked Elyon's cheek with her worm-tongue and held her tighter. The succubus' touch was both warm and cold at the same time. " **This is flesh. This is Lust, the purest form of carnal Desire. Ah... look, listen. The climax is approaching...** "

Elyon couldn't do anything but watch as her mother's back arched and she moaned strongly, while her father gave one final push, emitting a sound very similar to a roar. It was feral, primitive. Then again, her parents weren't explicitly human beings. Miridiael and Alborn shared a final kiss and the woman descended from the man, both of them panting and smiling in euphoria. Then Miridiael curled into her husband's chest and him hugged her. After a few minutes both fell asleep, Alborn playing with Miridiael's hair until their eyes closed…

Until a baby cry from another section of the house woke them. Miridiael made a little mumble but then laughed into Alborn's chest, who also laughed. "Do you want for me to go?" the man asked.

"No, no. I will go, it's my turn." Miridiael kissed him in the cheek. "You were fantastic."

Miridiael put a simple dressing gown over her naked body and get out of the room. In front of theirs, there was a door that led to another room, this one painted in a calm purple in which images of fairies and unicorns decorated the walls. In that room, Elyon, still trapped into Qetesh's hold, could see a traditional baby crib, an in it her baby form, crying. Miridiael took the baby Elyon and cradled her in her arms. "There, there; my little Elyon, mommy is here."

After a few cradling, baby Elyon's cries became sobs, and then the sobs silence. The baby was again asleep, but Miridiael continued holding her in her arms. "There, there. Did you have a nightmare, my little flower?" Miridiael deposited her in the crib again and she got some of baby Elyon's straw blond flocks of hair out of her face. "I had a nightmare too, long ago." Miridiael said to her daughter. "I dreamt that I would never have a child. It didn't matter what I did, or how I did it… I could never get pregnant. But then, you appeared, and you were deposited in my arms. I have a daughter now…" Miridiael inclined herself over the crib and kissed baby Elyon in her forehead. "And I love her more than anything else."

The scene changed again, and now the two meridianites were in their human, glamoured forms. They were in their house's garden, and a Elyon that would be seven or maybe eight years old was playing with some dolls over a blanket extended in the grass.

"When are going to tell her?" Alborn asked as he saw her daughter playing with a flying doll of Sailor Moon.

Miridiael looked at her daughter while playing. Without worries and without problems, without evil older brothers haunting her, or a war around. "We aren't" the woman stated to her husband.

"What?" Alborn said, "What do you mean we aren't? Miridiael, sooner or later we have to…"

"Look at her, Alborn" she said to the man, pointing at Elyon, who now was slamming her doll into a stuffed bear, defeating him. "She doesn't deserved to pass for that. She deserves a happy life her, like every other girl her age,"

Alborn sighed. "I'm still not pretty sure…"

"We will make it work" Miridiael said, "and if she wants to learn someday…" Miridiael doubted of how end that sentence. "We will cross that bridge when we are here."

And the scene fell down. And Elyon, still embraced by Qetesh, looked in disbelief at what had displayed in front of her. Qetesh kissed her in the cheek, and Elyon flinched at the contact. " **And that is Envy, little Queen.** " Qetesh explained. " **Envy of the women who could have a daughter, Envy of the women who could stay save, of the families that could continue together and enjoy a peaceful live in Heatherfield. And driven by that Envy, your mother lusted for the false life that the fallen Nymph offered her in Earth. The same Envy that made her to lie to you for all those years.** "

Qetesh kissed Elyon in the top of her head, and then in the back of her neck. Gently, Elyon's clothes fell to the ground. And Qetesh's claw-like hands started to rub and caress her body, fondling her still developing breasts.

"S-stop…!" Elyon protested, but that only made the succubus to move her claws faster and strongly, playing with the young Queen's nipples as she pleased, pressing her own massive breasts at Elyon's back, the insectoid arms that escaped the womb of the Tempter still scratching Elyon's back; more frenetically at any time.

" **I don't want to stop** " Qetesh retorted back. " **I'm Qetesh, the Tempter. What can I say?** " Qetesh continued playing with Elyon's breasts with her left hand as the right one descented to the young Queen's butt. " **I love little blondes... ah, but that's something we have very much in common, don't we?** "

"What do you-ah!" Elyon started to say, but a moan escaped from her mouth instead of the sentence, courtesy of one of Qetesh's fingers having entered her ass. "Stop it... stop it I say! You pervert!"

" **No** " the Tempter declared, as she licked Elyon's ear with her worm-tongue at the same time that she moved the finger in Elyon's anus. When she ended and took her finger from inside her, she whispered " **Now that we have seen what your mother lusts after... why don't we see what you lust after?** "

" _What does she mean by that?_ " Elyon thought, but as her surroundings changed into an ice rink surrounded by grades, Elyon knew what she meant. " _Oh no. No, no, no. She can't know! I didn't tell anyone!_ "

" **You told to yourself** " Qetesh said as both her hands descended upon Elyon's most intimate self. " **And you told her, even if masquerading it.** " Qetesh's voice changed into one very familiar one. "Elyon's ideal boy is tall, blond and with blue eyes." Qetesh's voice changed back and she took Elyon's head in both claws and moved it into a direction. " **Now, let's take a look into who falls into that description.** "

Elyon looked to the ice rink and the grades. In them she saw herself, almost as she was now. It was almost two years ago, a few weeks before Will came to Heatherfield. Her other self had an expression of pure happiness in her face, the eyes shining like if they had laid sight in an angel. And they had, in a way.

Over the ice rink, performing jumps and pirouettes, was Cornelia Hale. The blond hair tied in a braided pigtail at her back, her face the one of a serene person. Elyon remember this moment. This was when Cornelia had won her last gold medal in ice skating, before… before WITCH; before the lies, the monsters and the magic. When both girls were just normal teenagers doing what they liked to do. When Elyon's goal in life was to paint the best she could instead of knowing how to properly rule a kingdom; and when Cornelia's main concerns were how to perform the adequate movement over the ice and how avoid repeating the same set of clothes in the same week. When Elyon found out that she had fallen in love with Cornelia. But how could the longhaired blonde understand? Cornelia was heels over every pretty boy she set eyes upon (and normally the boys reciprocated); so in the moment they discussed what kind of man they liked, Elyon told her the truth. She just… swapped genres.

" **Ah, did you wet yourself thinking of your dear Cornelia?** " Qetesh had started to lay with Elyon's vagina, inserting her claw-like fingers in and out, stimulating her. " **Adorable.** "

"STOP IT!" Elyon yelled. But she couldn't control herself, her body was acting on its own; and she couldn't lift her eyes from Cornelia and her elegant dance over the ice. "Please, stop it!" tears running down Elyon's cheeks.

" **Why should I? You can say whatever you like to, but this is exactly the same you did to yourself while thinking of her, while you thought of how envious you were about Caleb when he was the one to kiss her**." Qetesh said as she nailed her little pointy teeth into Elyon's neck. " **We need just another push and…** " Qetesh's hands did something. And this time, it hurt, the succubus' fingers were hot and cold at the same time, and it hurt; like when you touch a piece of incredibly cold ice and it burns you. It hurt, it hurt a lot. And as little drops of blood ran down Elyon's legs, the young Queen screamed. But then, little by little, the pain started to transform itself into pleasure, and Elyon didn't know what of the both felt worse. She could feel her orgasm building inside of her as the demonic woman just toyed with her.

" _No please… please stop this…_ " Elyon thought as her breathing became panting, and her body arched, her head getting itself between Qetesh's breasts as she did. " _Please… please, someone, help me! Save me!_ "

As the orgasm was near, Qetesh made Elyon to turn her head around and look at her. The succubus kissed her, and the Tempter's worm-like tongue slipped inside her mouth, with the flavor of sickening sweet honey. " _Save me! Save me! It doesn't matter who, but save me!_ " Elyon shouted in her mind as Qetesh's tongue enveloped hers and finally, unable to fight herself anymore, she had an orgasm, her juices squirting under her and over the demon woman's hands.

" _Please, Cornelia; save me…_ "

And darkness took hold of her again.

* * *

Elyon was still crying when she regained the ability to see. She was still naked, and she could feel the mix between blood and her own juices over her legs. Over a floor of cold and black stone, she curled up and cried in silence.

It was all the same. Illusions and lies, masks and disguises. And lies, lies, lies... Liars all of them! Nerissa, her parents... even herself. Was not even the majority of her life a lie, but her mere existence just a way for others to live her fantasies?

" **Now you see; the truth of who you are!** " Ba'al's high-pitched voice resonated in her eardrums. Looking up, Elyon saw the tall and slim obsidian skinned demon, the Devourer, the tallest of the Four, towering over her with his skeleton-like appearance; his no-face looking at her with his perpetual macabre grin, the yellow and cartoonish teeth in all their glory. Inside his mouth, semi-opened, Elyon could see an enormous tongue composed of hands moving, waiting to clench something and drag it into Ba'al's mouth. Nothing but skin and bones, nothing but insatiable appetite, that was this thing.

" **Do you understand, young Queen?!** " the Devourer exclaimed. " **You have been living in a world of lies, you yourself being one!** " Ba'al raised both of his long arms to the sky. " **But that's how it works! In the end, all living beings pursue their Desires no matter what!** "

A world of lies. It sounded perfectly plausible in her head. But no, there had to be someone, something that wasn't a lie. "No..." Elyon protested. "It's not like that. There are people that fight for good; that fight for justice... Kandrakar... and the Rebellion."

Elyon looked at Ba'al and saw how his grin widened to extreme and absurd levels. In that moment, Elyon Brown knew that she had said exactly what the Devourer wanted to heard.

" **How do you know?!** " Ba'al asked. " **Were you there, have you verified it with your own eyes?! Have you experience it, tasted it?!** " Ba'al's arms shot to his sides and he turned his head backwards, his massive tongue exiting his mouth and extending upwards like a grotesque snake. " **I'm Ba'al Zaabub! My Gluttony and Greed are dedicated to knowledge and knowledge alone! You can't understand if you don't know! You must doubt! You must question! You must research, consume and treasure knowledge as if it is brighter than gold and tastier than wine! If you don't know, how are you supposed to discern your desire?! You must think!** " Ba'al raised his overly long arms again and waved them in front of Elyon. " **YOU. MUST. KNOW!** "

The Devourer tore reality apart around Elyon, and she appeared in the streets of a city at night. The dark made her unable to see well. She was still naked, but sans the cold she had started to not care. " _If that Qetesh woman goes around naked and no one cares, so can I._ " Elyon thought. Ba'al was still at her side, his scarecrow-like body still towering around her. He lend her one of his skeleton hands... and Elyon took it, like a child that takes the hand of a grandfather in order to be guided in a funny and pleasant trip.

" **Let's walk together, young Queen!** " Ba'al said and the two of them walked slowly.

"Where... where are we?" Elyon asked, looking at the sides of the streets.

" **In your home world, Meridian; a few years after your brother took the throne!** " Ba'al said, " **In Sonder Hill**." the Devourer said into a funny tone. " **Do you know why this city is so important?** "

Elyon pondered for a moment. She had started to walk leaning over and hanging completely of the Devourer's arm, in order to walk properly. "Yes… Tynar told me. It's because… my brother attacked it when they tried to rebel, and he had his soldiers punish everyone… Tynar was among said soldiers…"

" **Ah! But do you know why they rebelled in the first place?!** " He then used his free massive arm and signaled to a point ahead with a slim, bony index finger. At such small distance, Elyon could hear the bones under the skin of the demon clacking. " **Look! Here is the answer, the first stone of Meridian's civil war!** "

Looking ahead, Elyon could see little spots of light shinning in the night After Ba'al and her walked a little more; she discovered that they were torches; torches in the night of Sonder Hill, their flames dancing seductively due to the slow wind that was blowing. And carrying them Elyon saw men of various types of complexions. After they get near enough to see them march, Elyon was able to see the armor plates, the axes, swords and weapons. She recognized them. "Guards; soldiers of my brother. What are they doing here?"

" **Wrong!** " Ba'al shouted. " **Next try! No wildcards left!** "

Elyon rolled her eyes. So far, this one was the weirdest of the Four and he clearly was having a good time with all of this, sounding like one of her school's old teachers trying to annoy his student by demonstrating how much he knew about today's lesson and the student doesn't.

But Elyon played along, and focused on the men and women in front of her. Men and women… Women… Weird, Phobos never let women in his army, a clear symbol that the matriarchy of the world had ended and had been replaced with his new and better 'male' government. Then why there were female soldiers among… "Oh" Elyon muttered as her eyes took glimpse of a familiar form. The bulky body, not as round as she was accustomed to but still bulky, and the blue skin with white scales… "Vathek?"

" **Indeed!** " Ba'al said. " **But he was nothing but… how do you say? Cannon fodder at this point! No, the real catch of this is… Ah! There it is! Here comes Meridian's Hero!** "

And there he was. With the same ruffled brown hair, the same brown jacket... even the same look of determination in his eyes, but mixed with worry. He looked younger, maybe even younger than Elyon now. But that made sense. For all her life her brother had maintained his iron grip around Meridian, so it was normal that much of the rebels were young when the Rebellion started. Had they known about Phobos' motives? Had they known about her mother's secret nature? No, possibly not.

"Caleb?" Elyon asked, but the young rebel just passed through her. "Right..." the young Queen thought, "these are just images..."

" **Only images yes!** " Ba'al said. " **But important ones! Listen, listen to the young commander!** "

And so, Elyon listened. Why was the Rebellion here? For what exactly had they come? And why in the name of God they were dressed like...? What was happening hit Elyon like a train. The realization of what was going on was demolishing. But no, that couldn't be happening, the rebels were...

"Caleb" Vathek said, "are you sure that you want to do this? We could..."

"It doesn't have anything to do with if I want or not." Caleb said. "It's about what is needed to be done, Vathek."

"He is right" said then a voice. That whispering, soft-spoken and traitorous voice! The 'Mage' had entered the stage, and Elyon was starting to think that Nerissa had don that mask for too many years. Or maybe it was that the real Mage never had friends or lovers, and that was the reason behind no one noticing Nerissa stealing her face. "This is something necessary to give the rebels aid in their fight. If you are still so adamant about doing what is needed to be done, then you should leave."

That remark silenced Vathek. And with the Mage in the center of the group (which didn't look bigger than one of thirty people) and Caleb advancing as its head, the rebels walked slowly but relentlessly, trying to not make any noise.

"Take the Guards first; without being seen." the 'Mage' declared. "Then you can start making as much noise as you want." Nerissa smiled to herself. She had instructed them well for the past months, and for this mission, she had selected the ones with the more vicious minds… and Caleb of course. The boy needed to be taught this kind of lesson, see how thw universe really worked.

"The first blow is for the leader" someone said behind the first lines of the group, and Elyon could see how the back of Caleb tensed up and Vathek's expression of worry worsened. Still, Caleb didn't say anything, he had accepted this in the moment the Mage had explained to them what they were going to do and had appointed him as leader. There were people that doubted that he could fit into that role, but he was going to. Not only because the Mage had deposited her trust on him, but because he had to live to the memory of his father. After all, this was necessary for the rebellion, and if these people weren't against Phobos, then they were against them. At least, that was what Caleb had been reeating to himself in the moths preceding this night. He hadn't dragged Aldarn in this, but Gorlois had insisted into accompanying him. He was really tightening relationship with the dark skinned Galhot, something that had happened since their battle in that forest…

"That one" the voice of the 'Mage' got him out of his reverie. Ahead of the group was a lonely Guard of Sonder Hill, his attire and weaponry much more simple than the ones they were carrying. The ones of Phobos' army; the ones of the Usurper's army the ones of the Tyrant's army… Elyon could even hear their thoughts: " _Those are the Prince's weapons, those are the Prince's hands; not ours._ "

In a swift and silent movement, Caleb struck his sword in the man's neck from behind, not leaving him enough reaction to even think about what was happening. The sword went through the man's flesh as if it was butter and exited in the other side of it, painted in red. The body fell to the ground as a corpse. Caleb made a signal to his companions. "Scatter, and if you find a Guard, tag-team in teams of at least two and take them out. Then… then join in groups of three to four and…" Caleb swallowed. "And start with _the houses_."

The men and women scattered, and Elyon saw how Vathek approached Caleb. "Boy, I…" started to say the blue giant, but Caleb silenced him.

"Didn't you hear?" the boy said, not raising his sight from the corpse. Vathek didn't say a thing, and with a sad shadow over his eyes, he followed the other rebels.

Into _killing_.

Killing _innocent lives_. At one moment, while attacking the houses, someone had the bright idea of setting fire to it. This made both Caleb and Elyon shout in horror. The smell to burned meat, a _person's_ meat, invaded the air.

Elyon couldn't leave her eyes from the scene. She felt cold, and she didn't even notice how Ba'al put a hand over her shoulders. What followed was seen by the Queen without even blinking. The Guards, only doing their duty, and also the innocent people, resting peacefully in their houses, not expecting something like this… She had never felt so eager to puke into her entire life. Apparently, she wasn't the only one; because Caleb did the exact same thing once he and the 'Mage' were left alone. The woman put a hand over the boy's arched back. "You have done good, son of Julian" the glamoured bitch said. "Things will go better now. This city will rebel, and then Phobos would surely enact repression over them. That would be enough to put the majority of Meridian in your side of this war… and give you a real chance in it."

Caleb didn't say anything. He would put this moment and any memory related to it under a slab of stone inside his mind, and it won't resurface until years after; when Phobos, power having consumed him long ago, was in a cage and the person he had deposited his faith into turned out to be something different that what he had thought. But Elyon was an entire different story. Accompanied by the Devourer, the young Queen watched in horror how each of the bodies hit the floor as nothing as corpses. " **Look at their faces, young Elyon!** " Ba'al said to her. They were smiling. Those bastards were fucking smiling! Why? Why were they smiling?!

" **These people lost everything to your brother! Their privileges, their houses, their entire lives, and the ones of their loved ones!** " the Devourer explained. " **It's understandable that they wanted to satisfy their hunger for revenge!** "

"These aren't the people that harmed them!" Elyon yelled, but Ba'al just grinned to her protest.

" **But with those killings, they gathered followers to their cause!** " Ba'al explained. " **Even with all that your brother did, the people were either too scared or too complacent to rebel against him! With these killings, with this sacrifice of innocent lives, the Rebellion was able to gather followers around them, giving them the same hate towards Phobos that they felt! It's basic strategy, a good and old false flag operation!** "

"It's… it's a lie!" Elyon shouted. "This must be an illusion!"

" **No illusions! Illusions are ineffectual, because the Truth always finds a way to be discovered!** " Ba'al yelled back. " **I'm just holding a mirror that reflects that in front of you! But the Truth this time is not so pleasant, isn't it?! Or do you really thought that a Rebellion could be something civilized; that it was composing by heroes and martyrs?! Ihihihihihihihi!** " Ba'al laughed at her, and once again raised his overly long arms to the heavens. " **WHAT A PATHETIC EXCUSE!** "

And in that moment, something inside Elyon Brown snapped. Something that had been damaged, but that now really was broken. In that very same moment, when her already damaged mind was able to process what she had seen, than she understood, and her trust shattered into one million pieces. " _The Rebellion, the heroes of Meridian…_ " she thought. " _The Rebellion started…_ "

 _Because of a LIE_

* * *

Elyon had lost track of time. After the killing in Sonder Hill had ended, she had fainted, and now she awoken to the sight of the twisted buildings and surroundings of the Wound World. She was still naked, sitting in the cold floor with her legs closed and her arms hugging herself; and her eyes couldn't blink anymore. Elyon Brown was pending from a thin string… who better than the personification of Death and Rot to cut it, then?

" **It's not very pleasant to see for an innocent's eyes; the truth about this universe's collective consciousness.** "

Elyon looked tiredly to the guise of Vritra, the Enveloper. The First One was standing a couple of meters away from her, looking at her with the holes filled with darkness that he had for eyes. Elyon didn't say anything, opting for staying where she was, looking at her interlocutor with blood injected eyes. "Truth… of the collective consciousness…" she was able to mutter. "Why… why are they like that?"

Vritra smiled. It was strange to seen him smile, not because of how infrequently he did so, but because his smile looked so emotionless. If there was someone who could smile without emotion; not faking emotion but smiling _without_ it… that was Vritra.

" **In this universe, everything has to die, everything rots.** " Vritra stated. " **I find pretty normal and understandable that, presented with that perspective; living beings choose to follow their Desire.** "

"But… the lies… the lies…" Elyon continued to say. "Oh God, so many people…"

" **People are irrelevant**." Vritra spoke. " **In the end, each living being follows the Desire that burns within his soul, the force that keeps him going. In truth, that's the reality of every living being. Human, Galhot, Chimera, Passlings, Banshees… all of them only look for their own Desire.** "

"But… that's egotistic, it's evil…" Elyon said weakly.

" **Evil?** " Vritra asked, and for a moment he sounded confused by the word. " **Evil and Good are terms that cannot be applied here, Desire is above them; we Four _are_ _above_ them. In the end, what living beings have been calling good, is nothing but an illusion, a lie as deep as the ones surrounding you.**"

"But that's… I'm not…" Elyon said. "I'm not like that…"

" **No?** " Vritra asked. " **Stand up, young Elyon**."

The young Queen did as told and weakly and slowly, she got up from her position. She felt incredibly fragile, like she was done of crystal and she was about to be cracked in any second. In her feet, the fallen Queen of Meridian had to watch Vritra from above. He was of the stature of a five year old, and seeing at that distance it was clear that, if not for those eyes he could past for an infant perfectly. He looked kinda cute, too.

Vritra pointed to Elyon, and then to the ground. " **Please, look at your feet**."

And Elyon did so, and what she saw was terrorizing. She wasn't standing in a floor or any other type of ground anymore. She was standing into a mountain of corpses. Corpses of warriors donning trashed and broken armors, corpses of citizens dressed in civilian clothes, both earthling and meridianite… even corpses or children. Not being able to cope with the sight, Elyon screamed and fell in her back, impacting in the rotten flesh, which dirtied her body. "What is this?!" Elyon asked in shock.

" **Your legacy, the stair to your castle** " Vritra spoke. " **These are the innocents that were killed by both rebels and your brother. These are the rebels that were killed by Cedric and others of your brother's minions; these are the dutiful guards that perished defending the tyranny. This is the people that Died and Rotted because of you.** "

"I… No! It's not possible! It's not real!" Elyon shouted. "I never did anything!"

"But we prayed for you, Light of Meridian, and you never came!" a voice echoed, and Elyon saw how many of the corpses stood up, their bones broken, their flesh rotten, arrows piercing their head, swords struck in their abdomens… but they stood up, like an undead army.

"We fought for you, we cried for you, bleed for you. We _died_ for you." The corpses spoke in unison. "We died, because we were expecting your Light to save the rebels, because we were searching for your Light to satisfy the Prince! We are gone, because of you! Our dreams and desires are gone… because of you!"

Elyon had taken her hands to her ears. "It's not true!" she started to run from the corpses, but she tumbled and fell again to the ground. "It's not my fault! Not my fault! I never asked for this! I never asked for this life! I never wanted this!"

"But it's your duty" said then a familiar voice. Raising from the mountain of rotten flesh, appeared Caleb. "It's your responsibility!"

"You don't know anything about that!" Elyon shouted in anger. Her eyes were starting to cry blood. "You killed those people! You killed them! And Cornelia loves you! I love her and she loves you, you who are nothing but a murderer!"

Elyon took one of the swords that were lying between the corpses. She pointed it at Caleb. "You don't deserve her! You… you are nothing!" Elyon jumped and delivered a blow to Caleb's head, making him fall. Of course, Elyon ignored the scars that such a terrible action had left in Caleb's soul. She ignored how tortured he was. For her, he was nothing but a liar. "You are nothing!" Elyon continued to yell as she hit his head with the sword without any pause. "Nothing, nothing!" she kept hitting and hitting until Caleb (or more precisely an image of him) was reduced to a pulp of himself. Elyon fell to her knees, and in that moment, with her body uncovered and her should damaged to the extreme, the last string was cut. And Elyon Brown ceased to exist.

"Ha…" a dry chuckle escaped her lips, which evolved into a full laughter with time. "Hahahaha… HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Elyon took her hands to her head and nailed her nails in her skin, producing blood, the tears of blood running down her cheeks even when she was smiling like a madwoman. "I don't feel anything! I don't feel pain! Hahahahaha! Hahahaha! Ha… ha… ha…"

"So is this how you end?" the warm voice of Elyon's dearest sounded them. Looking at the distance, the Queen of Meridian saw Cornelia, within a mist, enveloped by a holly light. "Is this what you really want to be? Is this what you want to do? It's this who you really are?"

"Cornelia! Cornelia please! This is not what I am! I am me! I'm still me!" Elyon dashed to Cornelia, but in the moment she tried to touch her, the long-haired blonde fell backwards and shattered into a million of white roses at the moment of impacting with the ground. Elyon tried to recompose her, to no avail. But after all, why should Cornelia stay? Because Elyon was still Elyon? Was Elyon really Elyon, or the product of others' machinations?

"Yeah, go! Go away! It's the only thing you know to do! You just know to… abandon me!" Elyon shouted between tears. "But I don't need you! I don't… love you anymore!" but she was just lying to herself. Of course she loved her, of course she cared. Cornelia was her sun.

" ** _Now, this is reality_** "

Looking upside, Elyon saw the Four, all gathered together. All of them were now enormous, even bigger than the octopus-like things floating above, humming that tone for the song. Elyon looked at them, expecting a taunt, a cruel word, or even Qetesh's petting. But no, it was clear that she was the one to talk now.

"Why me?!" Elyon yelled. "Why always ME?!"

" **We looked in the continuum of time, and saw you**." Moloch said.

" **A little girl that serves others' desire, but that is denied from her own** " Qetesh followed in the explanation.

" **If we wanted another, normal Hierophant, we could have recurred to Nerissa when she was in that cell, years ago!** " Ba'al said. " **But instead, here are you, a perfect Egg expecting to be open!** "

" **Because you were denied of your Desire, we took interest in you.** " Vritra followed. " **And we marked you, not only as a Hierophant, but as the Egg of the Abyss, the Champion of Desire; our own messenger and Oracle. Of course, we are not manipulators, we are not liars. This is your decision, as it had been of any Hierophant before.** " Vritra pointed at her. " **It's you who have the power to accept or decline our offer; we won't force it upon you like many others have done**."

Ba'al extended one of his overly long arms and pointes to a spot in the sky, where images too familiar to Elyon were depicted. Cedric taking her to Meridian, Phobos hugging her, Trill giving her that blasted jewel. All of them followed by Cedric transforming into his Naga form, Phobos siphoning her powers, Trill shifting her image to Nerissa's. All the lies, all the manipulations. And always, always had to be her. " **But if you don't want to be tricked again! If that idea still shines in your head! If that Desire still burns in your soul! If that hunger for Truth still craves within you! Then the election is clear!** "

" **You only have to point to yourself, and surrender your humanity to Us**." Qetesh explained.

" **And you will be given a powerful pair of eyes that can see through any lie,** " Moloch said " **and we will whisper in your ear all the secrets that this universe keeps hidden.** "

" **In exchange of one sentence, and you will be in the way of wining your own set of powerful wings** " Vritra said as he pointed to the skies, " **that will help you into becoming our Oracle, and ascent between us in heaven.** "

 ** _This universe is what you call Ugly. But in that ugliness lays the true nature of every sentient being. And so, that ugliness is beauty. What Kandrakar and the Light call Pure is nothing but the biggest lie in universal history. And we, as Guardians of Desire, as Champions of the Truth, shall bestow it over the sheep that compose all creation. And you will be free, Elyon Escanor; you will be strong and no one will ever be able to lie to you again. And you will be a Queen of a beautiful universe; a universe of 'Do Whatever You Want'. All in exchange of a single and simple phrase._**

 ** _You just have to say, "I open my Heart."_**

Elyon looked at them. The offer was tentative, but it wasn't that which drew her to make that decision. It was the fact that these Four hadn't lied to her. In fact, they had been the only ones that had told her all the truth. And after all, if she returned now, what kind of life could she get? " _They are right…_ " Elyon thought. " _If I went back now, what could I be? Just a Queen that is played in a game like a puppet…. Nerissa, Caleb, Phobos, my parents, both biological and adoptive, Kandrakar and even the girls… they are all the same. If I get back now, what would be of all that I had passed? Forgotten and wasted, everyone will act around me as if nothing had happened. And I will never leave the World of Lies I have been living until now. If I turn back now, I will never reach the truth I wanted to know about. My promised land, my destined throne..._ " Elyon's tears dried out and she stood firmly. Her mouth moved slow and confidently, producing the sound.

"I open my Heart"

Tendrils of pure darkness shot from each one of the Four, as their song intensified and the strident set of trumpets started to play again. The tendrils pierced through not only Elyon's Heart, but Meridian's too. And as darkness enveloped her as if she was a caterpillar inside a cocoon waiting to become a butterfly and emerge gloriously, Elyon felt how her pain and the few doubts that she had went away, as if washed by a wave of calm water. For the first time in her young live, Elyon felt sure about what she wanted, and about who she really was. And as Elyon Brown had gone, Elyon Escanor, the Hierophant, the Iron Queen; came.

 ** _The Queen is dead! Long live the Queen!_**

* * *

"You seem to be incorruptible and I'm running out of _time_." Nerisa said to a caged Yan Lin, as she created an Altermere of her old friend and placed the original Yan Lin, incorruptible, strong Yan Lin; inside the Seal of Nerissa, an artifact born from the fusion of the Hearts of Meridian and Zamballa. In the coming days, Nerissa will use the fear of Yan Lin's Altermere of losing her existence in order to gain control over her. And the original Yan Lin will just watch from the sidelines, repulsed by her former companion and fallen friend's behavior.

"Ah now that's just cruel" Yan Lin said sadly.

"Well, if someone doesn't have weaknesses to prey upon, the most normal thing to do is create them" Elyon said behind Yan Lin. "I think that it's something really of her."

Yan Lin turned around and saw Elyon standing in the aquamarine limbo inside the Seal. She was wearing the same regal, blue dress that she had when Nerissa abducted her inside the jewel. "Elyon" Yan Lin walked towards her and hugged her slowly. "I'm so glad of finding you here! Are you well? Did my stupid ex-coworker something to you?"

Elyon hugged back and put Yan Lin's head in her shoulder, while hers lied in the old chinese woman's. "Don't worry Yan Lin" Elyon said. Without the old chinese woman's noticing her shadow divided in the four of the Royals and her pupils grew and covered her whole eyeballs in black. " ** _I'm better than ever._** "

* * *

 ** _The present._**

 ** _The Queen's chambers._**

Elyon awoke slowly to the dark of her room. " _A dream?_ " she thought. No; it was a memory of the past when she had made her decision of taking a step in her improvement, when she had evolved into the right direction. It was weird to look back at how she was before meeting the Great Old Ones. How weak and pathetic, how unbelievably naïve that Elyon of her past was. But she was gone for good. Elyon waved her hand slowly and the candles of the chambers lighted up in flames. Someone knocked at the door, and Elyon stretched under her blankets and gown. "Enter" she declared.

Irvine entered in the room respectfully, closing the door behind her. Elyon remembered from where she had picked the dark haired maid. Until Elyon lend Irvine her hand, she was nothing but a peasant, a beggar that had, somehow, gotten a job in the castle's kitchens as nothing more than a garbage and errand girl. Elyon looked at her and promoted the woman to become her personal maid, thus earning her a totally grateful and loyal servant. Irvine drank the winds for her, and Elyon knew it. Nerissa was wrong into one of her tactics. It's not about manipulating the people by making them want, but by giving them what they want; making them love you, not controlling their minds. And, to be fair, she did enjoy the woman's company. It was nice to have someone to talk to. She had started to talk to her big brother after his transformation into a Hierophant too, but it wasn't the same.

"Her majesty" the maid said. "Is there something wrong? I saw the candles and…" Irvine said, worry in her voice.

"No Irvine, I'm fine." Elyon answered. "I just woke up and wanted a little light. Is everything alright outside?"

"Drake and Raythor showed up before" the maid explained, "they wanted your help into searching for Caleb, my liege. Apparently, he has disappeared. Also…"

"Also?" Elyon pressed the girl's answer.

"Your moth- Captain Miridiael's state has worsened, my Queen" Irvine said, putting a lot of effort into not calling the woman 'mother' in front of Elyon. "I just… thought that you would want to know."

Elyon's face didn't show any emotion. Instead, she dropped from her bed and shifted her clothing to her usual blue dress. Stretching her body, she went to the door. "Thank you, Irvine. You have done a good job. I will go and see if Caleb is where I think he is. As for Captain Miridiael…" Elyon's head flashed with memories of what Lady Qetesh had showed her. "I will see what I do with that."

* * *

 ** _The Training Grounds_**

Drake walked towards the training arena where soldiers and guards alike trained day by day. In close night, there shouldn't be any people in there, all of the either sleeping or in night watch. But in the entrance to the area, Drake saw the guises of Ban and Bors. It was clear that he hadn't been the only one with the idea of losing some stress by training at night. However, it was clear that none of them was the one training. From the center of the arena, illuminated only by a silent torch, he could see Isolde performing punches and kicks to some training dummies made of wood. Drake stopped by the side of the two brothers and greeted them with a question.

"How is she?" Drake asked with concern.

"Erratic" Ban answered. "Violent and confused."

"Everyone has their way of mourning" Bors said then. "This is hers."

"Do you think that she could use some company?" Drake asked again.

"Yours? Of course" the brothers said at the same time, and Drake entered the arena, holding his own torch.

The way Isolde was fighting was totally different that how Drake had seen her fight before. With her spear she looked fast, fearsome and elegant… but now her movement looked rough. They weren't meant to better her stance or her technique, they were just meant to let her anger and frustration go out of her body. And as she punched one of the dummies with her raw fist, the wood of it cracked slightly under the blow.

"That seems to hurt." Drake commented. "You could use one of those gauntles that guards usually use."

Isolde looked at him, her eyes travelling from his head to his feet and then all the way up again. "I have been punching everything and everyone in my path since I was a kid. My knuckles are much better than any of those accessories."

"Mind if I join?"

Isolde shrugged. "The arena is of public use."

Drake took his cape and armor off, and he approached the dummy that Isolde was hitting until now, putting some bandages over his fists and knuckles. Putting his own torch in the ground, the light over the area increased and let Drake see Isolde's guise in full. She was wearing nothing but a pair of brown trousers and a shirt that matched color, the little that her toned body didn't let to imagination didn't gain Drake's attention. Instead her condition did. She was sweating, her hair totally messed, her eyes tired; clear that she was tired. " _She has been here, punching those things, since we came back from Lannion, hasn't she?_ " Drake thought.

"How..." Isolde started to ask while she saw Drake starting to punch the dummy, her eyes lasting a few extra seconds into the man's fists impacting the wood. "How many years were you with the Rebels?"

Drake punched the dummy and let his fist there for a few moments while he thought and counted, and there progressed to hit the man-shaped piece of wood each time harder and faster. "Seven, I think. And you?"

"Five." Isolde answered. Drake continued to punch the dummy, adding a few kicks. "Why?"

Drake delivered such a kick that cracked the dummy even more. "When I was young, I worked into a bakery. Nothing complicated, watch the oven, take out the bread, smile to the bystanders." He punched the dummy again. "One day, after Phobos' coup, Cedric and a platoon of soldiers came to my home village. They were demanding payment of the taxes the Prince had imposed. The village's chief said 'no', because our home had already paid a few months ago. And then Cedric swung his tail and hit the man. He flew a few meters before falling to the ground, all his bones broken. He was dead." Drake punched another time, and this time the fist waited there against the wood before he spoke. "Someone had to help. Someone had to make a difference. Phobos was ruining this land, and after seeing so much suffering, I decided to break a stick in Meridian's favor; promising to myself that I wouldn't let another innocent to die in front of me." an image of Julian's corpse flashed through his mind. "And you?"

Isolde looked at how Drake continued to punch the dummy. She could tell that he wasn't doing it properly and that the bandages protecting his knuckles weren't in a good condition. The woman approached Drake and made him stop; she then took one of his hands in hers and started to put the bandages in a proper order. "Since the moment I had use of reason" Isolde said "I wanted to be better, always thinking that the best should be the ones to lead. I looked at the likes of Queen Weira and thought ' _that is the kind of woman I want to be_ ', giving my best in favor of others. When Phobos ascended to the throne, he destroyed everything around me in his pursue of… whatever he wanted to achieve. Since that moment I have known that Phobos was the worst outcome for this land, and I choose the Rebellion instead of him."

Drake chuckled. Isolde had finished with one of his hands and started with another. "With that kind of ideas, I thought that you would be part of the High Commanding by now." Drake stated. Isolde chuckled too, as she gave Drake's hand the last touches.

"I really distasted commanders, you know?" Isolde said. "For me they were just sitting in the sidelines, letting soldiers do the work. The rebellion was different, until now."

"Distasted" Drake remarked. "Does that means you don't distaste them anymore?"

Isolde looked at him in the yes. None of them said anything for a few moments, their stares saying it all. "Maybe" the woman answered, smiling a little. She patted the man's hand and let it go from hers. "There you go. _Now_ you are ready to punch something."

Drake started to punch the dummy again, but he didn't seem as violent as before. Still, he looked troubled about what he was about to say. "And what about Queen Elyon?"

Isolde shrugged. "She is… she is a good Queen, no doubt about that. I suppose she still has a lot to learn, but I think that she is the best that could happen to our world. Why do you ask? Your voice seems… different when you speak about her."

Drake breathed deeply and stopped hitting the dummy. "That's the reason I came here" he said, "because I wanted to talk to you about her." Drake turned around, and he was looking as serious and worried as a man could be. "What if you are wrong? What if… all of us had been wrong this entire time? What if I told you… that we changed one monster for another?"

Drake wasn't happy about having those thoughts, and Isolde could see it in his expression and body tension. She folded her arms. "Do go on. Explain to me."

* * *

 ** _The Infinite City_**

 ** _The Mage's workshop_**

"I knew that I would find you here." Elyon Escanor said to Caleb, as he was standing right in the center of the workshop. "Why are you here? Your companions were looking for you, they were worried for you." Elyon approached Caleb and put a hand over his shoulder. "I'm worried about you."

Caleb shrugged her hand off and walked towards one of the walls of the workshop. "I was looking for this" the young man said, as he pressed a panel of the wall and activated a hidden mechanism. The wall moved away and showed a hidden room behind it. A room filled with spider webs, old furniture… and a baby crib.

"Oh!" Elyon exclaimed after looking at the crib and then looked at Caleb as she realized what it was. "Oh…"

"My father told me" Caleb explained "that I spent the first years of my life here. With him and… my _mother_." Caleb moved and put a hand over the crib. "He told me that he had been happy here; and that _she_ had been too. He always used to tell me that, when you are hurt, the best thing to do is to go for people that care about you, that love you." Caleb made a pause and put his hands in his jacket's pockets. "I wonder… when he was hurt, did he come here? To her?"

"Caleb, listen; you know you can count on me." Elyon said, trying to touch the young man again. "I know that you are hurt, but we are here for you… I am here for…"

"I'm going to Earth." Caleb said. It wasn't a thought, it wasn't a question. It was an statement. He turned around and walked towards the entrance, and pass Elyon.

"What?" Elyon asked "But… but the Guardians can't inter-"

"I'm going to see Cornelia, I need to… talk to her, see her." Caleb walked faster. "I will have Blunk open a fold for me and then I will stay there for a while. I'm sorry for leaving you all with these problems in hand, but I really need to do this now." Caleb said as he exited the workshop. "I'm sorry, my Queen, tell that to Drake and the others too. But I hope you can understand."

"Yeah…" Elyon said, surprise in her face. "Go on."

Caleb went; and Elyon was left alone in the Mage's workshop. After a reigning silence, a shriek cut the air, and all the objects in the workshop and the hidden room were pushed against the walls, breaking and lighting on white fire. Elyon's eyes turned pitch black and her scream of anger cracked the stone around her. She wasn't even trying. This was just a tantrum.

" ** _No one gives me a 'No' for an answer!_** " the Hierophant Queen shouted.

* * *

 ** _Half an hour later_**

She was in one of the rooms of the castle now. It wasn't a room as ornamented as hers. It was... normal. A normal room, prepared for the life of a married couple. A large bed, a little table and not much more. But after all, her adoptive parents didn't more, neither were people for luxury.

Elyon looked at the bed that was in front of her. Laying in the piece of furniture was the sleeping form of Miridiael. It was clear that she was tired, because she couldn't maintain her glamoured form anymore. Maybe her current state was due to Elyon's doing? When they had that conversation, Elyon let her anger to get the better of her, and she was certain that she was the responsible. She had lost control. Then again, the Great Old Ones weren't very huge fans of control themselves. If it hadn't been for Yan Lin inside that jewel, Elyon doubted that she could have been able to regain total control over the Heart of Meridian in time to insert that gift that the Four had given her inside Nerissa's prison. That little horror had been enough to have Nerissa out of business for enough time, Elyon fearing that, if left unchecked she could had escaped sooner and start tumbling her own plans in pursue of her own.

Elyon had felt it, the imaginary world that held Nerissa trapped breaking down. Well, at least Phantasos had delayed her enough time for the Altars to be finished without interruption. Good thing she started building them since the very first moment she came back to her kingdom. But Nerissa's return was a problem. In one way of another, she was going to interfere, especially after Julian's demise. Out of anger at her brother, or of love to Julian, Nerissa was going to try something. That was why her little fiasco with Caleb had made her so upset. She had thought that, if the boy was maintained near he could be used as a hostage against his mother. Mother. The word still sounded weird when thought around the young soldier and the old witch. When she had discovered it as Nerissa tried to bring Caleb to her side, she had almost killed herself laughing. Seriously, an old woman with lightning powers trying to bring her son to her servitude by promising universal peace? Way too similar to Star Wars to not let a laugh out. But that paled in comparison to the joy in the Hierophant Queen's when the son rejected the mother. The feeling that finally something started to go against Nerissa's design was precious!

But speaking of mothers, here was hers. If Caleb was going to be out of reach, then she was going to use another type of... deterrent.

"Captain Miridiael..." the Queen started to say. She then shook her head and put her hand over the woman's forehead, making it glow for a few seconds. Using a little magic, Elyon restored Miridiael's health... or more precisely, she turned it back at how it was before. "Mom?" asked Elyon. "Mom, it's me."

Slowly, moving her eyes under the eyelids first, Miridiael woke up. "Elyon…?" she asked weakly after opening her eyes, the shape of her daughter taking form after her long sleep.

"Yes, hello." Elyon greeted. "How are you feeling?"

Miridiael incorporated slowly, laying her back on the bed's headboard. "I think I have been better." Miridiael said. She looked at her daughter. "But I'm feeling well enough to talk properly, so I suppose this is an improvement."

Elyon chuckled at that remark, and Miridiael couldn't avoid doing so too. Even if not related by blood, it was clear by Elyon's mannerisms and use of language that the Galhot woman had been the one into raising her. They were very similar in a lot of ways; and yet, after that conversation in the Queen's office…

"How have things been?" Miridiael asked. "Did I lose a lot?"

"Quite" Elyon said. She looked at her mother. "Julian has… died."

Miridiael looked at her with surprise first. Then she lowered her gaze and her face became one of shock and horror. Miridiael looked back at the Queen's eyes. "How?"

"Big brother killed him." Elyon said plain and bluntly.

"Phobos has escaped?!" Miridiael shouted, coughing a little due to forcing her throat. Elyon materialized a glass of water and handled it to her. "How? When?"

"Yes, he… ermh… escaped" Elyon said. "A day ago he interfered into a fight the Elite Squad had with Tracker and, taking advantage of their bad situation and estate, he killed Julian with his own hands."

Miridiael felt how her soul fell to her feet. "I…" she muttered. "That doesn't explain how he got out. There are a lot of guards in the Infinite City, and… do you think he will come after you again?"

"That doesn't seem likely" Elyon answered. "After all I was the one who let him out."

Miridiael looked at Elyon, at first unable to believe what Elyon had said, especially with the tone she had used. "Is.. is that a joke?" Miridiael asked.

"No"

Miridiael looked in disbelief at Elyon. "How could you…?!"

"Do you know that my mother, the biological one, made Phobos kill his only friend with his own hands? When he was nothing but a child, no less" Elyon said, making Miridiael to shut up instantly.

"And do you know how the Rebellion rose to the state it was when we got back here?" Elyon asked. "No, how could you. At first I considered the likes of Nerissa and the Rebels to be better than my brother, because they at least put reasoning behind their actions. But then I realized. There is no need for a reason. If you want something, you take it. That's how it works."

"Elyon, I don't know what you are talking about…" Miridiael complained. "You… let Phobos out of his cell, and let him kill Julian. That's… that was your friend's father, for the love of God!"

"First of" Elyon spoke with authority. "There is no God, there are Four actually. Second, Caleb is not my friend; he is a whining pathetic boy who couldn't handle anything if not me, and his mother before me."

"Elyon, if you did something so horrible because of Nerissa's actions…" Miridiael said.

"I didn't do it because of Nerissa's… well, in a part I did. But it was also because big brother wanted to take revenge on her, because it was that witch who caused his friend's death." Elyon pointed to her mother's belly. "I did it because of this."

"Because of what?" Miridiael asked, her head hurting and spinning. She didn't believe that someone as kind and wise as Queen Weira could do that to her own son. She couldn't believe it.

"This." Elyon put emphasis in her mother's belly again. "Do you know how it's called? Do you?"

"Elyon, please, tell me that…" Miridiael pledged.

"No, mother, your Queen has made you a question!" the walls trembled before the Queen's wrath. "Tell me. Do you know how it's called?!"

Miridiael looked at her daughter's appointing finger. And she understood what she was talking about. She didn't want to answer that question, it brought back so many bad memories, so many bad dreams; and entire nights crying at the blood that escaped her womb every time she lost a child. She didn't want to answer.

"It's called sterility" Elyon answered for her. "The inability to have children, the inability to get pregnant. That's why you accepted _her_ offer. Not out of duty or loyalty to the late Queen Weira, but because you desired a daughter. That's the reason you never told me back in Earth, not because you were worried about me getting hurt with my power, but because you desired to remain there. Because you preferred the peaceful life on Earth while Meridian suffered." Elyon laughed. "Aren't you a cruel, envious woman under all that kindness?"

"Elyon, please, if you let me explain…"

"I'm not judging you!" Elyon interrupted her, the Queen's intention of not letting the woman speak was clear. "No one, nobody but you should be able to judge your actions! And so, how could I judge you? You wanted a family, a peaceful life and you take it! That's how it should be for everyone." Elyon pressed her hand against her mother's body. "Why should your desire be denied?"

Elyon started to glow with energy and first her fingers and then her whole hand trespassed Miridiael flesh like it wasn't there. In front of the Galhot woman's eyes, Elyon started to pour magical energy inside of her, changing her insides into something new. Miridiael felt a warmness invading her, and she felt how the last bit of pain disappeared from her body. When Elyon retired her hand Miridiael felt as if she had been restored back to her youth. "What…" the Galhot woman asked, her restored strength making her body to auto-glamour itself back to her human appearance. "What did you do?"

"I have repaired your womb" Elyon said. "You should be able to…" the Queen's eyes became pitch black without her noticing, " ** _have children now_**." Elyon's voice sounded distorted.

"Elyon" Miridiael said, half worried and half horrified by her child's change in her face. "Your… your eyes…"

" ** _Ah yes, the eyes_** " she said. " ** _I suppose I have been using too much power to be hiding them anymore. But don't worry. I can see everything with them._** "

Miridiael was confused. Her daughter… that thing wasn't her daughter. Or maybe it was, and the Elyon she had believed real was nothing but an illusion. Almost pushed by instinct, her face contorted into one of terror and she voiced her thought.

"You…" the Galhot woman said, "you are not my daughter! Where is she? What have you done with her?"

That was the worst choice of words she could have made. "I am your daughter!" Elyon shouted. " ** _How you dare to say I'm not real? I am me! I am me! I. am. ME._** " Elyon started to glow with power and the walls of the room trembled and cracked. " ** _I am your daughter. I am ME! Behind all the lies and masquerades; this is who I am! Look at what I gave you, and that's how you answer? This is what you wanted, that desire is everything that matters!_** " Elyon smiled brokenly to her adoptive mother. " ** _Why can nobody understand? Why can't you understand? I need you to understand… Please; please mother, I need you._** "

Miridiael extended her arms and hugged her daughter, all doubt that the girl in front of her really was Elyon completely erased. She hugged her little girl tightly, and kissed er forehead. Eyes or not, that was her daughter, and it was clear to Miridiael that she was suffering.

"Elyon, you… you were right." Miridiael admitted. "I accepted the offer of the Mage, of Nerissa, because I desperately wanted a child. Even if I convinced Alborn saying that it was the least we could do to honor Queen Weira, I did because I wanted a child." Miridiael stroked her daughter's hair. "And I got one. I got the most beautiful, brave and strong daughter that someone can have." Miridiael looked at the cracks in the room's walls and thought about what her daughter had said about Julian. "My sweet, little Elyon. You aren't alright, you need help… I want to help you, but if you don't let me, or others, know what has happened to you, we won't be able to help you."

" ** _Do you really want to help me?_** " Elyon asked.

"Yes." answered Miridiael.

" ** _Do you still love me, even after what I have done?_** " Elyon asked again, which made Miridiael to hug her even tighter.

"Of course I do. You are my daughter, and I will never let you go. Look at what you gave me" Miridiael caressed her own stomach. "I will always love you."

Miridiael felt them something; a warm sensation running through her body, from her chest, to her arms and legs, and finally to her head. It was a strange sensation, a sensation that made her feel… peaceful, calmed. " _No, wait a second_ " Miridiael thought. " _There was something, something important. Something with Elyon…_ "

" ** _You really do care about me, don't you mother? You really love me. Do you know what that means?_** " her little girl asked between the woman's arms, and Miridiael could feel the girl smirking. " ** _Well, to quote a woman that taught me a lot without even knowing it: It means that love is the chink in the armor of your soul._** " Elyon separated from her mother and looked at her in the eyes, the mother's natural ones against the spheres of pure darkness of the daughter.

" ** _And all that I need to make you mine_** "

* * *

 ** _The Queen's chambers_**

" ** _That solves that problem._** " Elyon said, walking in her chambers, her body too charged to go to bed again. " ** _For the moment, at least. I would have preferred to have Caleb as a card up my sleeve, due to versatility, but mom should do the play to. What do you think; big brother?_** "

Standing in Elyon's chambers, Phobos had heard to his sister's explanation of how to use Miridiael as a deterrent to the incoming foes. He was also aware and certain that it wasn't the best of options. "I will say that you acted the best you could with what you had." Phobos stated. "But I concur that the Crossnic boy should have been a better piece to use against the witch and the Guardians if they interfere."

" ** _When they interfere, big brother_** " Elyon corrected him. " ** _It doesn't matter what they are facing on Earth, they will come in the moment they understand what is happening here._** "

Phobos took one of his gauntleted golden fingers to his chin, and caressed his goatee. "Now that you mention Earth," the Hierophant Prince said "perhaps the enemy of our enemy would like to be our friend."

Elyon pondered this for a moment, and then smirked. " ** _Now that's a great idea, Phobos. I will speak about it with the Count when he comes here._** "

Elyon sat in her bed, and Phobos looked at his sister, her eyes unable to hide their true nature anymore. "Is there something more, Elyon?"

The Hierophant Queen thought about how to answer the question. She didn't find an appropriate one. " ** _I don't know. Do you want to… talk? About anything?_** "

"Like what?" Phobos asked.

" ** _Dunno._** " Elyon said as she moved her legs in the air. Even if more powerful than anyone else in Meridian, it was clear that she wasn't still an adult. Hell, she didn't even reach the part of puberty in which you grow like crazy. " ** _Perhaps about all those kids that look like you and that live in Lot's whorehouse?_** "

Phobos couldn't restrain a laugh to that. "Yes, them. I suppose that it could be nice to pay a visit to Lot and the girls one of these days. Or maybe not, probably those women will want to kill me."

" ** _Or sleep with you_**." Elyon said. " ** _For small fee, of course._** "

Both siblings laughed in unison at that remark. After the laughter ended the Escanors fell silent. Elyon looked at her feet. " ** _You never told me that I had nephews and nieces._** "

"I was trying to drain you, dear sister." Phobos answered. "And I never thought about myself as a family man, I... never thought that I could be a father some day." Phobos made a pause. "Not that I wanted or that I had a good model to follow in."

" ** _Yes, I know_**." Elyon answered. " ** _Do_** **_you think that he is still out there? Our father._** "

Phobos shrugged. "Maybe. If he is he didn't stay in this world, since you are not able to see him. He probably fled from Meridian when I killed our mother years ago, in fear tha I would pursue him." Phobos chuckled. "How ridiculous. As if he was part of this family at some point."

This time it was Elyon who chuckled. " ** _Family..._** " she said, almost whispering.

Phobos smiled understandably and sat at Elyon's side. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about anything else, sister?" Phobos asked her.

" ** _Like what?_** " Elyon said, mimicking her brother's previous statement.

Phobos put one of his arms over Elyon's shoulder and made her to rest her head into his lap. "You know that you could have used another of the members of the High Commanding as a pawn; like Drake or Vathek… yet you used Miridiael."

" ** _I deserve a mother, Phobos_** " Elyon said while looking at him from below " ** _a real one this time. I thought that you would understand._** "

"I do" Phobos said. "I'm not judging you, Elyon; I'm not one to do so. We are both Hierophants, and my own Desire moves around the idea of love." Phobos stroke the girl's hair. "You wanted her at your side, that's all. The reason I had so many chils in that building of Carhaiz, is because I founded tranquilizing the fact that I could sleep with a woman without worrying about rebels, or Guardians, or even you. Everyone needs someone around, the reason I killed our mother was because she took that person from me."

" ** _You know something brother?_** " Elyon asked. " ** _For a long time, I hated you. Sometimes, I dreamed awake about going to your cell and kill you just by snapping my fingers. When I understood how you really worked… I just felt indifference for you_**." Elyon looked at her brother and raised her hand to strike his cheek. " ** _You knew that I didn't care for your safety when I gave you the Box, do you?_** "

"Yes" came Phobos' answer.

" ** _And you knew that, when I told you that I loved you, back when you just passed Their trial, I was lying?_** " Elyon asked.

"Yes" he said.

" ** _And yet you choose to stand by my side._** " Elyon declared. " ** _Even if we are fellow Hierophants, you could have done as you pleased. And you choose to stay. With me_**."

"I already told you, everyone needs someone to rely on. And I find my own mind way clearer now that I'm not dependant on energy" Phobos said. "If you let me, if you love me, I will serve you until my last breath. Love me, and I will be your slave; my dear sister. I promise you."

Elyon looked at him from his lap; her eyes of pure black against his golden ones. She thought about how much literally applied to them the phrase 'The eyes are the windows of your soul'. Her eyes were now as dark as the reality of the hearts of people she saw every day, and his were as golden as the cruel gold of the old and cruel Kings. Elyon raised both her hands and incorporated, taking Phobos' face between them as she did so.

" ** _Kiss me_** " said the Queen, and the Prince obeyed with pleasure.

The kiss wasn't as awkward as she had expected. In fact, it was pretty good, as good as _he_ had expected. They continued like this for a while, exchanging kisses and licking each other. Sometimes, Phobos' teeth would bite his sister's earlobes or his hand, still gauntleted in golden would sneak inside her dress and press her developing breasts. Sometimes, the sister would lick the brother's nose in a lascivious manner, and she would bite as strong as she could into his shoulder or neck. It didn't last long until both of them were naked and Phobos was over Elyon, getting inside and out of her in a frenetic rhythm; while the Hierophant Queen moaned in pleasure, her arms around his body and her legs around his waist; screaming.

" ** _Stronger!_** " shouted the Queen. " ** _Stronger, stronger, STRONGER!_** "

And so, the Prince obeyed, and in the end, as both of them climaxed, the very bed they were laying broke under their thrusts. Of course this wasn't love, or anything similar to that emotion. This was just plain carnal desire; this was just plain fetishism and hedonism. This was just a broken and sad girl trying to forget the love of her live to no avail and console herself in the pleasure of flesh that her brother provided; this was just a man wanting to be loved even after all the monstrosities he had commited. Neither of them wanting redemption or to give anything in exchange. These kind of creatures, these Hierophants, children of the Abyss that grow under the Four's elongated shadow… these were the monstrosities that lurked in the universe's corners, and that consume everything in their path in order to satisfy their desire. Don't feel pity for them, because they wouldn't feel pity for you.

And as they laid in the bed together, brother and sister, Prince and Queen, Hierophant and Hierophant warming each other's bodies, the Queen smiled and the darkness that covered her eyes extended through her body in the form of lines that born in her eyes as if they were tears. Her nails become black too, and they grew various inches. This was Elyon's Abyssal state. The true form of the Egg of the Abyss; and she extended her hands to the heavens, as she smiled with a mouth full of pointy teeth not different from the ones of Qetesh.

She could still hear Them. Speaking, shouting, whispering, yelling, singing... Since the moment she had become a Hierophant the Four had been speaking in her head, non-stop. To her, between them, even delivering long monologues. She could have sworn that sometimes she heard Lord Ba'al and Lady Qetesh cracking a joke. But it didn't matter, because it was necessary.

And in that bed, her body finally accommodating to the power that the Four put inside her, the Heart of Meridian finally belonging to no one else but the Abyss, the Champion of Desire let her thoughts to run free before sleeping.

 ** _I am a bird, a powerful eagle wanting to broke from her cage of stone and cold iron. I want to dance with the stars, I want to play with the moons, I want to kiss a black-hole and I want to crush a planet under my foot._**

 ** _I want to Fight; fight and conquer the ones that lied to Me._**

 ** _I want to Feel; feel everything I was denied from feeling._**

 ** _I want to Know; know everything they kept a secret from me._**

 ** _I want to Live; live the life I choose, the route I decide to follow, not the ones others decide for me._**

 ** _I will be free from this cage, I will spread my wings and ascend into heaven. And I will be happy, and I will live in a universe of true freedom, were no one has to hide their true nature from others. Because I desire the very concept of Desire._**

 ** _Because I want to do whatever I want._**

* * *

 _Here I am, in the dark. Chained to demise an agony! Madness is creeping in, 'cause what I see cannot be real. Or can it? I wanna feel your touch in the night. Unpure is my dark delight. What a lustful sight before this eyes; oh darling! I'm gonna feel the wrath of the king, 'cause touching you was a sin. I'm a victim of my own Desire!_ Touch in the Night; by Battle Beast.

* * *

 **A/N: Long A/N ahead, people!**

 ***uncomfortable silence***

 **Random voice in my head: Hey Author, that… that was pretty fucked up.**

 ***more uncomfortable silence***

 **Wondertown9: Pretty fucked up, indeed! That was the Third Meridian Interlude, people; The Women inside the Jewel. Or as I like to call it, "Inverting the Roles". Now, let's have a little explanation here. When I started to plan and write this fic, Elyon was supposed to be a good guy. Flawed, traumatized and a little paranoid, but a good guy. She was going to open up as time in the story passed, and she would end her character arc by beating up some weird thing that Cedric and Phobos were going to became… by fusing with each other… I really didn't plan that very well. But as I was writing the second chapter, something hit me hard in the head while writing the little scene with Nerissa. And that was how similar Elyon and she could be if handled correctly. So I went back to Elyon's scene with Miridiael and re-wrote it, leaving a few clues that Elyon wasn't the same Elyon than at the end of the cartoon. That got me to the end of chapter four, where it was revealed to you, the reader, that Elyon was a Hierophant. And now, after several chapters of her basically screwing with people because she can, we found why. She is insane. I wrote it in the chapter per se, but I will say here again, if the Four Royals of the Supernatural didn't exist, Elyon could have become a true paragon, and the best Queen Meridian ever had. But my version of the WITCH universe has its own version of the God Hand and the Cenobites, and that means what means. Elyon broke under them, and was remade into the monstrosity she is now here, which means that she is no longer the same person that she was in the Cartoon. Nerissa, in the other hand, has STARTED to redeem herself. She has just realized what kind of horrible things she did to the people she was supposed to care about (hell, you could consider what happened to Elyon as her fault… in fact, it basically is) and she had changed her goals from 'dominate the universe' to 'protect the people I love'. Does that mean that she is going to stop being a Magnificent Bitch? No. Her goals, not her methods, have changed. But in resume, the two women had become what the other was, albeit differently.**

 **Random voice in my head: You did this because you wanted to see how an Evil Elyon could work in the story, didn't you?**

 **Wondertown9: Well yes, in a way. Ever since I discovered that the WITCH comic book headed into a total different direction than the authors planned, I decided that it could be awesome how Elyon could develop herself in that direction. And what the hell, you can't have a God Hand expy without a Griffith expy! (Please, not _Elyon did nothing wrong_ jokes).**

 **Random voice in my head: Well, I suppose is interesting. Also, Caleb is going to Earth. NAd he and the early rebellion did a pretty horrible thing... Were there heroes in Meridian anywhen?**

 **Wondertown9: Yes! He is going to go to Cornelia. He is finally being intelligent and has decided to go with the person he loves in order to talk about his pain. So he is going to be part of the Riddle Arc from now on. The next two chapters of the Riddle Arc will be dedicated mainly to end Taranee's character arc and how she ends her conflict with Danny, her own family and Nigel. After that we will have the LAST Meridian Interlude: Hierophants, in which Drake, being smart, will make his move. Also, yes the rebellion fucked up bad, more or less. They were desperte and Nerissa took advantage of that, scarring her son for life. I myself wonder how Cornelia will react to that reveal...**

 **Random voice in my head: Well, I suppose that's all you have to say, except…**

 **Wondertown9: Right! Right… er… I don't know when I will update again. It could be in weeks, it could be in months… it could be in a freaking year; 'cause I had things to do, and I have been really working myself out and get to this chapter before going into some sort of hiatus here… that's the thing people. So, this is all I wanted to tell you. I hope you enjoyed this 121 pages chapter, and leave a review to tell me if this chapter explains why Elyon has become what she has become.**

 **As always, I desire you pleasant days and nights. See you in the next Riddle Arc chapters. Say goodbye to the readers, Mr. Voice. Mr Voice? Oh right… I'm writing this alone… Weird.**


	14. Chapter 14: Riddle Arc Part VII

**Disclaimer: It seems that I still don't own WITCH. It's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **A/N: Hello. How is it going, readers? I hope that last chapter explained satisfactorily the new status quo of this story's Meridian. Having said that, welcome to the seventh part of the Riddle Arc. This marks not only the start of the Guardians' counterattack against Riddle's forces, but also a two-chapter end of Taranee's conflict with Danny, the Ashford family (which includes her boyfriend), and her own mother that started in chapter 11. Having said that, if you ever watched the show Gargoyles (produced, sometimes written and directed by Greg Weisman, who also handled the second season of WITCH), you will catch a lot of references and a few characters that I created driving inspiration from that show in this one. In a total different note, this two chapters will be smaller than the previous one, and aside the end of the Riddle Arc there won't be a chapter as long as the Third Meridian Interlude.**

 **In another note, I will want to thank authors Rain on Roses and Oblivian03 for their continued support and reviews.**

 **Having said that, enjoy your read and leave a review if you feel like it.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter fourteen

Riddle Arc. Part seven

New Year of Iron

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield_**

 ** _December 31st. Seven in the morning_**

"Good morning Heatherfield, and welcome to Heatherfield Radio News." a male young voice retransmitted from a radio hanging by the side of a window said. "Name's Dimitri Duval, and accompanying me is my new and young assistant; Martin Tubbs, student at the Sheffield Institute. Present yourself, Martin."

"Hello, Heatherfield!" the nasal voice of Martin Tubbs appeared from the radio. "Martin Tubbs here, excited to be a part of this awesome team!"

"Now, that's a good spirit to start this day." Duval's voice came. "Martin will be with us only for a few weeks, by I know by now that we will enjoy his company. Without further delay, let's head onto the news, because we have one really important one to deliver to all of you."

"Whoa, really?" Martin asked. "You didn't tell me _that_ in the meeting."

"Sorry kid, they are fresh news." Duval took air, and his voice changed into a more serious tone. "Judge Theresa Cook, a respectable member of Heatherfield's community, has been arrested under the charges of abuse of authority, manipulation of clues in a case, and extortion. Her son, the young Peter Cook, has been arrested too, under the accusation of robbery and murder, a crime that his mother blamed into an innocent, Daniel Ashford, who spend years in jail for a crime he didn't commit, and has died recently…"

"Wait, what?!" Martin yelled.

"Well, I know is a bit shocking, but… wait, Martin, where are you going?!" but Duval never received an answer. The only that could be heard from the multiple radios that the people of Heatherfield were listening to, was the sound of Martin's microphone hitting the floor as he rushed outside the Radio Station.

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield's prison_**

 ** _Isolation zone (male branch). At the same time._**

Peter Cook moved inside his prison suit like a child would move inside a new pullover. The damn thing was too itchy for him. Until now, he had never been on an isolation cell. He had seen some due to her mother's job, but this one was creepy to say the least. There were no windows, no bars, not bed… just a four-wall room made of stone with one big and thick door of steel. The only unusual thing was a little table and a chair that had been put there, and that was because someone with enough contacts inside the prison wanted to talk with him. After almost two hours of waiting, he heard the door to open and saw how Tom Lair entered from it. The slightly fat man walked towards Peter after closing the door, and stood still in front of him, arms closed over his chest. He didn't want to talk in the same level as him, probably due to his friendship with Peter's parents. Then again, that was probably the main reason he was here, and why there were no cameras in this room.

"Good morning Peter" he said. "I hope that your first night here was… peaceful enough to get a sleep."

Peter looked at him. "Do you know if my mother is safe?"

"Your mother is okay, kid" Tom answered. "She is into a very similar cell to this one, but she has refused to talk to anybody. Even in prison, she still knows the law better than any prosecutor or layer we can put in front of her."

Peter emitted a relaxed sigh. "Thanks for telling me."

"No, don't thank me Peter, repay me." Tom said as he got nearer to the table. "Tell me what the hell happened with that Huffman, Danny and everything. Because your mother won't do, and I need to understand."

Peter looked at Tom. He sighed in resignation. "Agh… I don't really remember pretty well myself. It's all blurry and kind of black, but I do remember what lead to it." Peter made a pause and put his hands over the table.

"It all started a few years ago, three if I'm not mistaken, with a pretty casual conversation. I guess everything starts like that." Peter put his fingers together. "We were playing basketball one day and Danny mentioned a girl that he wanted to present to me. Delilah was her name. Oh she was gorgeous... with short, black hair and such... angular features. I fell for her, you know? I wanted to impress her, but I didn't know how." Peter put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair looking at the ceiling. "So Danny and I started to discuss some ideas, but all of them were resumed to the same thing."

"Money." Tom stated.

"Money." Peter repeated. "So we thought 'How can we get money?' and we started to" Peter laughed "to plan a lot of stupid things to gather money. Stupid and completely invented jobs, plans to win on a casino, finding someone who will paid us... we passed in front of the... in front of the..."

"The antiquary" Tom helped him.

"Yes, that." Peter said. "We started to plan things about... about robbing it. It started as a joke, of course. Nothing more than bravado and words over a basketball match. But time passed and one night we... we were in the fucking antiquary. I don't even remember how we get in there. I was so nervous and afraid that I took some... things."

"Drugs?" Tom asked; the surprise and concern of his tone betraying his, until then, stoic display.

"Nothing serious" Peter said. "Just a little pill, that's all. It made everything seem easier, and I felt with more energy than ever. I had never taken it anymore, but the feeling..."

"It probably was ecstasies." Tom muttered, more to himself than to Peter.

"Danny told me that we shouldn't be doing that, but I didn't listen. Then the... the man..."

"Roderick Huffman." Tom helped him.

"Right." Peter said. He had changed from position, now having his arms over the table, but still looking at the ceiling. He really was putting effort into remembering. "He told me... told me; 'why don't you get out of my shop and go home, with your family?'; now I know I should have listened to him. He probably knew that we were just a pair of stupid kids." Peter laughed dryly. "But I didn't listen, I couldn't. The only thing I remember is that Danny was shouting in fear when the man appeared. I had something in my hands. Something cold and heavy, and..." Peter looked at Tom directly at his face. "I'm not proud of what I did, I'll never be. And neither I'm about what my mother did to my friend, I just... Have you ever made such a mistake that you are unable to face it? That you just want to run away and leave it behind?"

"Yes" Tom answered. "But I also know that it doesn't matter how much you run, it will always catch you."

"Yeah" Peter said looking around. He let his eyes to rest in the walls, the ceiling, and the door. The weight of the cell he was in finally pushing over his shoulders. "I know that now." Peter tapped his fingers against the table. "Is true that Danny is dead?"

"Officially, yes." Tom answered. "But between you and me, there is no corpse found, and the people of the prison seem pretty reluctant to talk about it. I don't know Peter, something smells bad." Tom moved and put a hand over the boy's shoulder. At that moment, he wasn't Tom the policeman, but Tom the man, the father. "Thank you for explaining what happened. You mother should have enough friends to keep you in this cell."

"I don't like this cell." Peter said.

"It's safer than a regular one, believe me. Your mother put a lot of dangerous people against her during her time as judge." Tom stated. Then he looked around. "I will pull a couple of favors people from here still own me. I think it will be enough to get you a bed."

Tom got to the door after separating from Peter. "Could you please look after my dad?" the man heard Peter. "And tell my sister we are okay? Neither of them knew."

"I will do what I can, Peter." Tom said as he opened the door. "Try to find something to do in there. Something distracting, until you are able to get a book. But remember that there is only laundry two times in a week. So, try not to... dirty your uniform."

"Thanks, Mr. Lair." Peter said. "For everything."

Tom exited the cell without answering back. The thick, metallic door closed behind him as he went, and Peter was left alone in his cell. "Happy New Year, Danny." Peter said. "Wherever you are, I'm sorry about what I did to you."

* * *

 ** _The Avalon Bar. Eight o'clock_**

Even a city as calm as Heatherfield had what is called _'bad neighborhoods_ ' by people who want to avoid the fact that their peaceful town has the likes of robbers, smugglers or even killers. In one of those _'bad neighborhoods_ ' was a dirty, bad-illuminated and smelly bar named Avalon. Inside it, the worst kind between the worst of Heatherfield was, oddly, having something very similar to a party. News about Theresa Cook's imprisonment had spread like fire upon dried wood, and for the majority of scumbags of Heatherfield, the facts that, One: Mrs. Cook was no more around to mess with their lives, and Two: Mrs. Cook (and even more, her fucking son) wasn't so different from them; had left them into a strange state of friendliness towards each other. Tonight, instead of making easier for them to jump at each other's throats, the alcohol and the stench to sweat, piss and other biological fluids made them stay closer and throw a toast at Mrs. Cook's expense.

In one of the bar's messy and dirtied tables, a pair of twin siblings were laughing and joking about what would happen to mother and son in prison.

"I'm telling you, Jackie!" a woman in her late twenties, with an athletic figure and a pretty face; with short brown hair warped in a pair of small ponytails, told the man in front of her. "That woman won't last more than a week! Either she dies or the other girls break her! Maybe we are lucky and she gets raped!"

The man in front of her, her own twin brother and thus of the same age of her, his features ruder than hers, and his brown hair let free in a long, wild mane; however, ditched the idea. "I don't know sis; women aren't so eager to rape in prison (women that aren't you, that's it). I would say that the boy has more tickets in that matter than our beloved judge. You now, time alone in a prison is very hard, and I can tell you from experience Helen, people get ideas." He took a sip from his glass of beer and a sadistic grin appeared in his face. "Like that time I and the pals caught that boy in the showers and I shoved my rod right inside him! His expression was...!" he couldn't finish the sentence, his face twisted in a grotesque grin.

The two of them burst in cruel laughter and after cheering, they drank from their beers. If in that bar the worst of the worst was gathered in that moment then these two were the worst between all of them. Jack and Helen Renard had something broken inside of them. Their own father, a watchmaker, had once said that "these two had a twisted gear in their heads, something that doesn't work as it should".

At the age of five, the two siblings delighted themselves with the smallest of acts. Breaking a glass, ruining their mother's dishes before they came to the table in her arms... small things. As the years passed they discovered the pleasure of ripping off insects' wings and seeing how they squirmed in pain in the floor.

At the age of ten they started to take pleasure in bullying their schoolmates; and that earned them some expulsions from several schools and various visits to a cheap excuse of a psychologist.

When reaching fourteen, they took a dog, gouge the poor animal's eyes out, kill the little one and hang it's corpse out of the therapist's house's door. That earned them various years inside a reformatory.

But of course, a reformatory wasn't enough to contain them. After reaching sixteen, the Renard siblings got out of the reformatory and went straight to pay a visit to their therapist. In the following day, said therapist was found in the door of his house. It never was found out what the siblings did to him, but whatever it was, it left him catatonic.

Neither Jack nor Helen bothered to deny their crime. Helen had remarked that it had been fun hearing the man scream, while Jack seemed amused at the idea of getting their names in the newspapers. Both of them were processed and sent to a much more strict and secure reformatory. Courtesy of recently ascended from attorney to judge Theresa Cook. When they reached adulthood and went to the streets again, the woman always maintained an eye over the pair, knowing that they would surely fall in their vices again. And they did. Nothing too serious by their standards… just a robbery with an aggression. At least they didn't kill the man they robbed, though he ended pretty... _scared_.

Of course, this time Theresa sent them to jail, where they stayed until their sentence ran out. It hadn't been a particularly long one, but as Theresa put it herself: " _better to have the streets clean for a brief period of time than to wait till they do something horrible and we can put them behind bars permanently when they had already murdered someone._ " Of course, she was confident in that she could judge them again. That opportunity will never come now. And so, the siblings celebrated the good news as did all the scum that populated Heatherfield's criminal underworld, clapping to the fate of the judge.

The door of the bar opened them, and from it both Jack and Helen could hear heavy footsteps approximating the center of the bar. Even with all the shouting and drinking, all noise seemed to dry down after every person in the bar realized the newcomer's presence. There, standing in the center of the Avalon Bar like nothing important was going on, was the form of Danny Ashford, holding a suitcase, his cybernetic visage clearly surprising the crowd surrounding him. He looked at one side and then another, and directed himself to the bar, as if he wanted to take a cup.

Of course, his appearance triggered whispers, which evolved into conversations, and then into laughter. A full blown laughter directed to Danny's guise. And yet, Danny noticed, the Renard siblings weren't laughing, opting to look at him with an interested grin in their faces. The barkeeper, an man in his fifties with white hair and a short, cut and elegant beard wasn't laughing either; neither was a bulky man in his thirties with a thick moustache and a Mohawk in his shaved head. The four of them just looked at the mechanical stranger, while the others laughed. Now, the only thing that was needed for Danny to gain their interest aside from their attention was…

"Hey dork!" a more or less drunk man shouted to him. And there it was; a stupid one ready to be a volunteer. The man picked up one of the billiard sticks he and his friend were using in order to play the game and, holding it up, directed himself towards the robotic man. "You got the Holidays wrong, punk! It's New Year, not Halloween!"

The billiard stick was swung towards Danny's head as strong as the semi-drunken man could use it. It hit the cyborg's cranium… and shattered into nothing more than splinters. Danny, who had been turned into the barkeeper's direction, turned around and looked at the man who was holding the now completely broken stick, attention divided between the destroyed weapon and the man in front of him. Danny amused himself with the fact that the man's expression was slowly becoming one of fear. Even if drunk, it was clear to him that he had picked in the wrong person.

"Well, seems that _you_ got the Holidays wrong." Danny said as he picked the man by his shirt and held him over his head with his free hand and without effort. "It's New Year's _Eve_ ; not Saint Patrick!"

And as he said that, he threw the man across the bar, and he impacted against a wall and then fell on top of the billiard board he was playing before. This prompted the other customers to attack Danny with everything in hand; chairs, sticks, glasses. And as he did, the Renard siblings, the barkeeper and the Mohawk guy continued to stare at him and the spectacle he was providing. Sighing at the incoming excuses of adversaries, Danny let his suitcase in the ground and prepared himself for a little bit of exercise.

What followed was the most blatant example of a one-sided bar brawl that you can imagine. In what didn't amount to even ten minutes, Danny had all the men in the bar laying in the floor unconscious. He must admit, when you are built up for the exact purpose of defeating a pyrokinetic girl with enchanted strength and senses, you can beat any regular guy.

"Well, that was interesting to see, but it's bad for the business." the barkeeper said. "I'm calling the police."

"Yes, go ahead, call the police." Danny said in a sarcastic tone. "Sebastian Smith, right? Or should I say Frederick Foster? Or..." Danny's eyes narrowed, as if he was smiling under her metallic mask. "Macbeth."

That last one name stopped the man in his tracks. He sighed and looked at the floor. "Agh... _swizzle sticks_." He turned around as fast as he could and fired three bullets directly to Danny. Two impacted in his chest and the last one right into his forehead. Of course, the bullets just impacted against his armor and fall out of it, without leaving a mark.

"Please, old timer, no need for that." Danny remarked.

"Don't call me 'old timer'." the barkeeper, or Macbeth as he had been called, said. "What do you want, freak?"

Danny chuckled. "You don't want to be called old timer, and you call me freak..." Danny moved his hands randomly at his sides. "See the problem?"

"Who are you?" the man of the Mohawk asked, still sitting at his table. He was looking at Danny half curious and half wary. "Why are you here?"

"Declan Wolfe, if I'm not mistaken." Danny identified the man. "Name's Daniel, but everyone calls me Danny. As for why I'm here..." Danny pointed to the suitcase. "I just wanted to make an offer for a job. This," Danny pointed to the unconscious forms of the multiple people he had beaten up "this is what I would call a tryout."

"And why do you think we will listen to you?" Macbeth asked the cyborg.

"Well, maybe is because he just beat the crap out of all these in an instant?" Jack commented from his seat as he indicated with his hand to the bodies in the ground.

"Or maybe because he just shrugged off your bullets?" Helen supported her brother's statement with her own.

The old barkeeper grumbled at the siblings' commentary. Then Danny intervened. "What about considering it a favor?" the cyborg said. "For the man who put Theresa Cook behind bars."

 _That_ got their attention. Danny was finding this situation incredibly funny. Was this the same thing that Mr. Doomstad felt while speaking with him? The sensation of knowing something that the person in front of you doesn't know, but that they know that you know. It felt tickling to be the one in control.

"You put the Cook Bitch in prison?" Helen remarked. "You are awesome!"

"How?" Jack, always a bit more level-headed than his sister, asked. "How did you do that?"

"The same way I know who you are." Danny explained. "Gaining information and using it." Danny then took one of the chairs that hadn't ended smashed against him and, putting it back on the ground he took a seat, making sure that the suitcase was near to him. "You can go everywhere with some info. For example" he pointed to the barkeeper. "The famous, and yet supposedly retired arms dealer only known as 'Macbeth'."

Danny pointed to Declan. "Declan Wolfe, a former professional wrestler, a little too much enthusiastic about hunting endangered species, and let's not talk about the anabolic drugs..."

Danny then directed himself to the Renard siblings. "As for you two..." something flashed in his eyes, and then it dimmed out. "Helen and Jack Renard… Oh, boy. Where do I start?" this remark had the siblings chuckling in cruel pride.

He clapped his metallic hands. "And here you are, all wasting your time in a lousy, dirtied hole; all so different, and yet you four have something in common. All your lives went to hell thanks to goody-two-shoes Mrs. Cook. Well, here I am to get you all in the game."

"So, you are basically offering me a way to regain my former operation?" Macbeth asked.

"Yes, and money, tons of money; but not only that. Ever wanted to sell the best of weapons? Ever wanted to be as strong as no one? I can give you all that." Danny said. "But of course, first you have to do me a favor, since I already did you the one of imprisoning Mrs. Cook."

"And that will be?" Declan Wolfe asked with impatience.

Now he had their interest. Good, Mr. Doomstad was right; these were the right kind of people to use. He took the suitcase and opened it, revealing a screen inside it. "I think that was your entrance's phrase, boss."

The screen turned on, revealing the image of Victor Doomstad in it. "Thank you, Daniel" said the burgundy wearing blue eyed man, in his usual deep voice. "Hello, gentlemen, lady." he directed to the attendants. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounties of cybernetic ' _Trans-Humanity_ '?"

* * *

 ** _Cook residence_**

Sweat, tiredness, muscles aching. Taranee was punching a huge punching bag in her garage. She had found it under a few old things that her dad had kept in there. At first she had thought that she could punch it to blow some stress, but now she was just doing it for the exercise. Being a Guardian, even if not transformed, had its perks. You healed faster than the regular human beings, you were stronger… but it didn't come right with a combat instruction for solitary duels. A Guardian's best strength lies in her companions; that was one of the first lessons that Yan Lin had taught them all. That fact had almost cost her life months ago, when Nerissa had attacked her while the other four were in Meridian. And then Danny had practically killed her, and her friends and companions had also almost died when they fought Doomstad and the others separately. Taranee had learned the hard way that, if teamwork was a Guardian's best strength, fighting alone was their biggest weakness.

"You are doing it wrong." her father's voice took her by surprise. Leaning against the frame of the door that connected the garage to the house, Lionel Cook looked at her daughter pounding the bag.

"Oh, emh… sorry dad." Taranee apologized.

"You don't have to just punch it. Punching things straightforward is how rookies get defeated in everything that entrails physical contact." Lionel said while approaching Taranee and the bag. He put himself behind the training device and hit it softly, making it to move from side to side, like a pendulum. "You have to think that this is a person, not a punching bag. You have to made it move, wait for its movements, adapt to them. You have to endure the blows and the pain while you are waiting for an opening to attack. That's how you use one of these." Lionel stopped the bag's movement. "Will has called. She has said that she will understand if you want to stay here, but she said that they are meeting on the Silver Dragon."

"Dad, if you need me here, I…" Taranee said, but Lionel cut her mid-sentence.

"No, go ahead, really. I think that, right now, is better if you are with them. I will call you if I got a call from the prison or the family's lawyer. Just… try to not get into trouble, Taranee."

The black girl hugged her father and kissed him in the cheek. "Thanks dad." the Fire Guardian said as she get out of the garage and headed to the bathroom in order to have a shower before leaving. Lionel looked at her go, thinking that, in this type of situations, a friend was the best thing that could be around you. A friend. Years ago, Peter and that Danny boy had been inseparable. And look how that turned out to be. What the hell had been going on lately? First his little girl is sent to the hospital, and then his son turns out to be a murderer, and his wife a corrupt. Lionel looked to the punching bag and, without thinking it two times, punched it with all his strength. The bag got torn and a thin line of sand fell to the ground from inside.

" _What an awful New Year's Eve…_ " he thought to himself.

* * *

 ** _The Silver Dragon_**

In the basement of the Silver Dragon, the members of WITCH were having a meeting. But instead of chatting, they were planning as if they were army commanders. A map lying over a table depicting the entirety of Heatherfield, and the five girls around it. From time to time, Yan or Mera would enter to see if the girls wanted something, or if they needed to contact the other members of CHYKN. Apparently, one of the benefits of having Halinor back on Earth was that the old timers were able to use their telepathic link again and link it to the girls'. That provided a good way of communication between both parties.

When Taranee arrived, the other four girls were already there. And to her surprise, so was Susan Vandom, who seemed a little awkward around such young people acting like if they were battle-hardened soldiers. It didn't stop her from giving Taranee one of the warmest smiles of her life after the dark-skinned girl answered the woman's questions about her well-being with an evasive answer.

Taranee joined her companions. "What did I lose?"

"Not very much, really." Will said. "We were just revising what we already knew."

Cornelia pointed to one of several crosses that were painted upon the map, this one depicted over Villa Ludmoore. Someone, probably Hay Lin, had written the words 'Evil Hideout' under the cross. "So, as far as we know, Riddle and the Doomstads operate from here. And we also know that they are after my sister."

"I don't think that they will go straight for her" Taranee said, getting in the conversation. Perhaps some tactical-chat would distract her from her problems. "They probably prefer to remove us from the picture before that. It will be much easier for them to act with only the Regents opposing them. Speaking of the Regents..."

"They will be with Lillian 24/7 from now on." Will said. "Matt will patrol around the Hales' during day and Huggles during night. Napoleon will be directly with Lillian, no matter what."

"So not really wanting to be _that guy_ " Irma intervened. "But what do _we_ do?"

Will opened her mouth, and then closed it after that. "The best thing to do would be to play at the defensive."

"So we wait for them?" Hay Lin asked.

"Not exactly." Will answered to the Air Guardian. "But I don't want to rush in that manor or that factory again. Khor is probably living down there. I doubt that Doomstad and Riddle want him exposed to the public."

Cornelia shivered a little. "Yeah. I'm not very into facing Big Bad Wolf again."

"Our best chance is try to weaken them while getting more info about what they try to do to Lillian." Will said. "Attacking them head on while they are all gathered in the same place would be a suicide."

"Oh, oh, oh! That's the Divide and Conquer thing, right?" Hay Lin said in her cheering tone.

"Yes." Will answered. "We have to find a way to isolate them and then strike."

"I think that Danny is our best option there." Taranee intervened, getting some worried looks from her friends. "He was just walking the streets when he confronted me yesterday."

None of the girls said anything. It was pretty hard for Taranee with just everything with her mother to add the fact that her boyfriend's older brother was trying to kill her. They knew that Taranee had been completely avoiding talking about or with Nigel since the reveal about her mother's involvement into Danny's imprisonment

"And the info part?" Cornelia spoke in order to put everyone's focus back on the plan.

"That's where we can really move around." Will said, and then breathed deeply. "Mom, when you are ready."

Susan approached the table and, taking something out of her pocket, she put it over the table. They were two pieces of paper, invitation tickets, if the girls weren't mistaken. "Will, what's this?" Irma asked.

Susan was the one to answer. "These are invitations to a charitable party in the Ludmoore Manor. Doomstad and his wife are throwing it in order to gather money to help the families that lost someone during what happened in the mall. Since Heatherfield Electronics is a filial of Prometheus, I have been invited."

"Well, at least they are trying to repair their mess" Irma remarked dryly. She touched her nose and noted how Hay Lin did the same with her stomach from time to time. In order to not get discovered by their parents, both Air and Water Guardians were wearing a little glamour that hid their new scars. But the scars were still there, they could feel them aching from time to time, the reminder that there was a part of their bodies that would not be the same again.

"Yes, but by doing so, Doomstad will have the entire of the city eating from his palm." Cornelia said, getting Irma out of her thoughts.

"That's not the point." Will told the blonde. "The point is that both Victor and Sephiria will be on a party, my mother will be there and none of them know that she knows who we are, and who they are."

Silence took hold of the five teenagers and the adult woman. "Will" Hay Lin broke the silence. "Are you planning to use your mom to attack the Doomstads?"

"What? No!" Will said, almost jumping. "But I had an idea of how to take advantage of that."

Will raised her right hand and generated a bolt of Quintessence, holding it in his almost clenched palm. "I have been giving some thoughts to all that 'using my powers to their full again'." Will smirked. "And I have a very good idea to use it."

"Are you sure?" Irma intervened. "What if you become that Elemental you again?"

"That's not a possibility. Not with what I have planned. And you heard Matt, we have to grew out of that fear sooner or later." the redhead remarked. "I already told mom about it, and she has agreed."

"Look girls," Susan intervened "I know that it's a bit weird to have me here, but I want to help. And you could really use this kind of opportunity."

"Mom is right" Will remarked. "We can't let this opportunity to pass in front of us like nothing. We don't know what Riddle and Doomstad will do in continuation, and we need to, otherwise we will always be one step behind them."

The other four girls looked to their leader. "Okay, Will." Cornelia said. "What's the plan?"

* * *

 ** _Ludmoore Manor_**

 ** _Hours after that_**

Reading a quartet of informative dossiers, Theodore Riddle sat at a table in one of the spacious rooms of the Ludmoore Manor in company of Victor Doomstad and another attendant. He had been giving the final touches to their next move in the plan. It was a step that Victor had improvised after those two sages of Kandrakar entered the stage. Who knew how many more could interfere? So they have been forced to gather more 'pawns' in order to use against them. Of course, it was meaningless, and if everything went as planned, their interference shouldn't be changing anything, but Victor had to disagree. And so, he had sent young Daniel into searching some 'aid'; which he had found into the form of four criminals that had accepted a deal with Victor in order to gain money. And of course, Victor's upgrades had been incredibly welcomed by them. Well, by three of them, at least. The fourth one was currently sitting at the table with both Riddle and Victor.

"Why 'Macbeth'?" Theodore asked to the white haired and white bearded man in front of him. He had changed from his barkeeper attire to a particularly dark outfit. It consisted in a pair of black trousers and combat boots, a dark blue pullover over his torso and all of it enveloped in a dark and long coat.

"I like Shakespeare" the man said. "And I found his take on the tale of Macbeth quite entertaining. Frankly, I feel rather identified with him. That's the reason I choose that name as my alias."

"You have done quite the good work into erasing your original identity, though." Riddle remarked. "It's really remarkable that an organization like ours only can find your false identities, but not the original, real one."

" _Says the man named 'Riddle'._ " Macbeth thought to himself. "I'm going to get paid or not?"

"Of course, the quantity should be already in your ghost properties." Riddle remarked. "But one more thing, why did you reject Victor's offer about the augmentations?"

"That intrigues me too" Victor said, entering in the conversation. "I actually had prepared quite the set for you." He sounded disappointed, like a child that has lost his opportunity of using a new toy.

Macbeth shrugged. "I don't want anyone to treat my body like that. This is my body, and like this it will remain till the moment of my death. I was born human, and human I will die." Macbeth's eyes hardened. "If I have to do a 'job', then just give me a gun and I will do the rest."

Riddle smiled. Now _that_ was an answer he liked to hear! It was such a shame that he had to find Sylva before finding this man! And what did he ask in return of his service? Money! Trivial and unimportant money! Well, money and weapons.

"Don't worry about that detail" Victor assured him. "I will provide you with weapons that no one has seen until now." the blue eyed man looked at his watch. "It's almost twelve o´clock. The others should be ready by now, so you should be going to meet the upgraded versions of your companions, Mr. Macbeth."

The man nodded, sat up and left the room. That left Riddle and Doomstad alone. "Well, with this, Sephiria and I will be able to be in the party while Danny and these four take care of the side operations. You could just sit and watch from the sidelines as always, Theodore."

"Thank you, Victor." the bald man answered. "But are you sure these four will be enough to deal with their targets?"

Doomstad took a finger to his chin. "They aren't as strong as Daniel, that's for sure, an frankly it would have been stupid to made them otherwise, but they will be enough due to the type of weaponry they carry. They had been equipped with the best I could manufacture in anti-magic weaponry I could create."

"One has to admit, finding another one of those… what was the name you gave them?"

"Anti-Magic Particle Source, or A.M.P.S., for abbreviations" Doomstad answered.

"Right," Riddle said, sounding a little stupid. "As I was saying, it was fortunate to find one of those under this manor." Riddle said. "Speaking of young Daniel, where is he?"

"Sephiria has gone to get him." Victor answered. "She should be back in time to attend the party and the guests."

"Speaking of the guests, Victor, one of those _Guardians'_ families will be assisting, right?" Riddle had pronounced the word Guardians with such hatred that his tone had lowered a little upon ending the phrase.

"Susan Vandom will be assisting, yes; in company of Dean Collins." Victor answered. "I got the confirmation a few hours ago."

"Keep watch over them, Victor." Riddle ordered. "That redhead girl is not someone that lets opportunities like these to pass over."

"Do you think that she has told her mother about her secret?" Victor said. "That seems unlikely with what Sylva's data said about her."

"I know" Riddle said. "But I don't want to let nothing else in the plan to chance again. Keep an eye on them during the party."

"I doubt they will be able to do anything but…" Victor tapped the table with his fingers. "I will keep watch over them, don't worry. Everything is progressing to the final stage just as we planned, Theodore, there is no need to be so wary."

"Good." Riddle said. "Now, the only thing that lasts is waiting, isn't it?"

"Yes." Victor answered. "Do you want to play chess until Sephiria gets back?"

Riddle smiled. "Why not? It has been very long since I defeated you."

"Last time I checked, Theodore." Victor said with a grin. "You were defeated by a mere girl."

"That was just because I decided to face her without reading her mind, and I underestimated her." Riddle protested. "I haven't lost with you since the last time, and I'm not going to start now."

"If you insist…" Doomstad said while the two men prepared the chessboard and the pieces, as their laughter invaded the room they were in.

* * *

 _ **Nigel's home**_

"So, that's how it is…" Martin said as he finished his conversation with Nigel, one of his oldest and closest friends. Even after entering high-school, Nigel and Martin had kept close. Even if, as those ridiculous, unwritten but apparently sacred teenage-rules indicate; Nigel should had become a cool-boy while Martin was in the right direction of becoming what's usually called a nerd; they kept their friendship. Even if Nigel was more interested in sports and Martin in audiovisuals, they kept their friendship. And now, when Nigel's life had taken such a dark turn, there was Martin Tubbs. Always loyal and ever caring Martin Tubbs, who now was sitting with Nigel in the latter's old sofa, while his parents were trying to not sink into a depraved sea of lawyers, policemen and journalists. Take about good way to start the New Year. The glasses wearing scrawny teen put a hand over Nigel's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man. I can't begin to understand how you feel."

"It's funny, you know?" Nigel said. "I always looked up to Peter. When big brother went to prison, he stuck to me and protected me, guided me. Until now, I thought that it was his way of respecting his friendship with my brother, but now that I know what happened…" Nigel sighed in exasperation. "I think it was probably guilt."

"Have you spoken with Taranee?" Martin asked.

Nigel shook his head. "I don't know how I will react if I look at her face."

"Are you angry at her?" Martin asked his friend.

"No, of course not." Nigel said. "I'm certain that she didn't know, just like I didn't. Taranee isn't as cruel as to date me knowing all that. From what I have heard in the TV, her father didn't know either. I'm more worried about how she feels about herself right now than that."

"Well, dude, you will never find out if you don't ask." Martin said.

"I don't know, man." Nigel said. "My parents are pretty bad right now. My mother has done almost anything but crying since she found out my brother was… Man, how I hate this; it's totally un-sweet." Nigel said in a sad tone. "What in the name of God is going on? Everything seemed so easy and good only two weeks ago! Then the frigging Shopping Mall explodes, and my girlfriend almost dies! Then, I found out that my girlfriend's mother is a total bitch, and then my brother dies in a prison! And the last person that he spoke to was probably me!"

"It's okay man." Martin said, as he put his arm around his friend. "Look, you should talk with Taranee, Nigel. If you still care for her and if you think she still cares for you… then you two should talk. If you don't clear out your feelings with each other, it will only hurt you both."

"Talking from experience?" Nigel asked Martin, regaining a little strength from that funny remark.

"Of course!" Martin said, and the two friends laughed. Because that's what a friend is, a light that guides you even in the darkest of places.

* * *

Outside the house, in the top of a near building, Danny listened at how his little brother and Martin talked with each other. He had heard them thanks to a little mini-drone that his new body incorporated and that let him heard from a distance thanks to a large range communication microphone. In the moment he had known about it, he had left it in his house.

"He still likes her, doesn't he?" Sephiria Doomstad took Danny out of his thoughts.

Danny sighed. "It looks like it" he said.

Even if he hadn't heard the woman approach, he didn't show any signs of surprise. He didn't even finch when that cat that seemed to accompany Sephiria to everywhere she went jumped into his metallic shoulder and rubbed against his neck and head. The woman made a giggle. "Look, Josephine likes you too" she said, to which Danny mumbled something incompressible in protest.

"Yeah" Sephiria said while putting herself at Danny's side, a nostalgic smile in her face, "that was probably what was going to happen irremediably of what you did or said. Love works that way."

"Don't call it _love_." Danny protested, while turning around and walking away slowly; his metallic feet making a rattling sound while impacting against the ground. "It's just a teenage thing. He will let it pass."

"Revenge is a sucker's game." Sephiria said, making Danny to stop in his tracks.

"What?" the cyborg asked.

"Victor's motto." Sephiria said. "You know, it was his father's before being his. I lived with them when I was a child, you know? Met Victor there, one of those typical stories in which the kids grow up together and then fall in love. The first time I heard 'revenge is a sucker's game' was from his dad. Pretty boring and work-obsessed guy the old man, but he was good with us. For him, that phrase meant that revenge is stupid because it's not profitable. For Victor, it means that revenge is stupid because it doesn't let you look at the big picture of things."

"So?" Danny asked.

"For _me_ " Sephiria said putting emphasis in that last word, "it means that you shouldn't let that revenge to consume you" she looked at Danny and saw how the cyborg was looking at the ground. Sephiria smiled at him. "Those creeps you took from that dirty hole they called a bar should be finished by now. Victor wants to see you for the instructions for tonight."

Danny mumbled something and started to go away. Josephine jumped from his shoulder and went to accommodate herself on top of Sephiria's head. As Danny went and disappeared from the top of the building, the black haired woman looked at the blue sky above her. Then she hit her temples as a little girl would do.

"I just sounded like a mother back there…" she complained into a funny tone.

* * *

 ** _Vandom residence_**

"Are you sure you have picked everything?" Dean asked Will as the redhead put a _third_ bag in her home's entrance.

"Yeah, I think that I have." Will answered. "Shouldn't you be preparing for the party tonight or something?"

"I have plenty of time to do that" the History teacher answered. "And you seem to need help with that." the ginger man said, signaling to the three bags by waving his hand in their direction.

"Right, right…" Will breathed. "It's just I'm a little nervous. Mom and you are practically going to be in the mouth of the wolf tonight, and I'm going to be in dad's house, and I will have to make an excuse for leaving after dinner…"

"Don't worry about that part." Dean reassured her. "Tony and Serena will let you go. They are pretty good people."

Will calmed her and smiled. "Yes, you are right."

After a few more minutes of waiting, Tony Vandom appeared in the entrance to the Vandom's house. After some nice word interaction with Collins, he took Will's luggage and put it in his car, where Serena waited for them. Dressed as sharp as ever, Tony waited patiently along his fiancé while Will said her goodbyes to Susan and Dean. This had been something that the redhead and both of her biological parents had agreed upon a few weeks after Tony's arrival on Heatherfield, according that Will would expend Christmas with Susan and New Year with Tony. Of course, this had been decided before all the ' _Riddle mess_ ' started, and now Will couldn't find a way to avoid it without telling her father about the Guardians too. Of course, she didn't know that Tony already knew. In fact, she didn't know that Tony knew what Will would become long before Will being a Guardian.

The two redhead's and the brown woman rode Tony's old fashioned (but still kinda cool) car to the two almost married adults' home at the last floor of one of Heatherfield's skyscrapers. There, Serena showed Will her room while Tony carried his daughter's bags.

"I hope everything it's to your liking." Serena said to Will.

Will looked at the room. It looked like a standard room prepared for a teenager, which Will interpreted as Serena's way of saying that she welcomed her but wanted to let Will to decorate and organize it in her own. Will had passed for too much lately to care for any detail that bothered her, or to not welcome with open arms such a lovely detail, so Will gave Serena a friendly hug. "Thanks, wicked stepmother." the redhead said.

"Aw… you are welcome stepdaughter" Serena said, answering to Will's hug with her own.

"No, no. Don't worry." Tony's voice came from the hallway. "You two can keep looking at the room and hugging each other, and let me handling the bags…"

Serena and Will looked at each other and then, snickering, get to the hall in order to help Tony. As the redhead teen took some bags from her father, the man sighed while the two put them in her new room. "You are conscious that you are only here for, at most, half a week right?" Tony asked.

"Well yes, of course I do." Will answered as it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Then why did you bring all these bags?" Tony asked, but Serena hit him in the back of his head lovingly.

"You can't ask a lady why she brings too much luggage!" Serena said to her fiancé. Tony grumbled without saying anything to that answer, knowing that this was one of those moments in which he wouldn't be able to get out well of any following conversation with Serena, Will or both.

"Okay, okay; sorry." the redhead man said smiling sideways. He then looked at her daughter. "Hey Will, can I speak a little with you in the terrace, alone?"

"Uh... sure dad, but shouldn't I be unpacking first?" the Keeper of the Heart told her father.

"I will take care of that, don't worry." Serena said, and then pushed her a little. "Go to speak with Tony."

Will did as she was told; understanding that Serena and her father had probably spoken about this prior to her coming here. She and Tony exited to the flat's terrace, he two redheads looking at the view of the immense skyscrapers that populated Heatherfield, and the sky of the usual pale blue characteristic of winter. Tony and Will leaned against the railing of the man's balcony.

"Serena and I heard about what happened with Taranee's mother" Tony said breaking the silence. "It's terrible."

"Yes, yes it is" Will retorted to her father. "Taranee feels horrible."

"And you?" Tony asked Will.

The daughter eyed the father. "What?"

"You, Will. How do you feel about all this? She is your friend." Tony said.

Will looked at her dad and then changed her sight to the city once again. "I don't know. I feel sorry for her, and I really want to be there for her. But at the same time, there is so much going on with…" Will looked at her father by the corner of her eye " _some things_ … that I think none of us can really put ourselves in her place. Or maybe is that we can't understand, because we haven't passed for that kind of situation. I don't know, it's just that I…"

"Care for her." Tony ended the phrase for her daughter.

"Yes." Will answered. "But I care for all of them."

Tony looked at Will and, enveloping her with his arm, he ruffled her hair with his hand and smiled. "I think that we should go back inside before Serena is overwhelmed by whatever you have carried in those bags."

"Sure." Will said as the two of them headed inside.

"By the way, do you and your friends have some… ' _crazy plan_ ' for tonight and tomorrow?" Tony asked her.

Will smirked at that. " _You have no idea, dad_." she thought. "Not really, why?"

"Well, Serena and I are going to be at a club with some of her friends she wants me to meet tonight, and tomorrow I have a meeting in the afternoon with some associates of mine. So, if you want to get your boyfriend here…"

"Matt?" Will asked, still not getting the point. "Well, sure I could bring him here, but why should I bring him… here…" Will's face became as red as her hair. "DAD!"

A hand hit Tony in the back of his head fast and strong, and he could have told that he had felt a little electrical force added to it. Will looked at him, her face still something that could pass perfectly as a tomato. "YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!" and the redhead teenager went inside, stomping her feet in the ground.

Tony smirked playfully at the show displayed in front of him. " _I have the strange feeling that this is going to be a funny New Year._ " the Count thought.

* * *

 ** _The factory under the Ludmoore Manor_**

 ** _Seven o'clock PM._**

Danny stood in the underground factory with Macbeth at his side. In front of them, the other three 'subjects' (as Mr. Doomstad called them) practiced with the upgrades that the man had provided them with. Declan Wolfe had now something very similar to miniature, cylindrical turbines in his arms, back and legs. They weren't part of a suit or something; they were incrusted in his flesh and bones. Apparently, each one of those could release a special kind of steroid mixed with some nano-machines that made Declan's strength to augment considerably, along with his muscular size, especially in his upper torso. The Mohawk wearing man, a former pro wrestler and heavyweight at that; was now able to punch holes in pure stone. It wasn't as strong as Danny's body was, but it would be enough.

The Renard siblings had taken a path very similar to Danny's, except that, instead of having the cybernetics covering their bodies completely, they only covered their arms, legs and torsos; almost as if the platters were a second skin, a fact that Danny eyes recognized by stopping a few extra moments over Helen's hourglass figure. Their heads had been left completely free (except for Jack's right eye, which was covered into a eyehole that looked like an eye patch), and it was clear from their thin complexion in comparison with Danny's that they weren't equipped with the same weaponry. Just enhanced strength and agility; and as Mr. Doomstad had put it, some ' _flashy tricks_ ' with the claws.

Macbeth, in total contrast with the other three, just had been given Victor's finest weaponry, mainly updated and fully functional prototypes that he made for fighting the Guardians before adding them into the robotic designs. Speaking of robotic designs, Danny took his sight from the others a few moments to look back and put it over the new models that Mr. Doomstad had reserved for tonight. They were only two, taller than Danny himself, but still not as big and bulky as the one that had attacked the mall under Sylva's instructions. They were way slimmer than the MK.I and albeit not as humanoid as the P.H.I.L ones that the doctor was going to put to public use, they looked rather aerodynamic.

Danny projected a clock in front of his eye visors. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready?!" he heard Helen's voice. "Man, I could totally win a marathon or smash the entire police force of this town by myself now!" a phrase followed by a metallic sound resulting of her giving five to her brother.

"Sis is right, this feels amazing!" Jack stated, clenching his new metallic fists. "I feel like I could totally squash anyone like a bug!"

For his part, Declan held his hands in front of him and clenched them with fury. "When do we hunt?"

"You can start now. Night will be falling soon." Danny said, then looking at the former arms dealer. "Macbeth…"

"I'm in charge, aren't I?" he asked.

"You are in charge." Danny answered.

" _Swizzle sticks._ " Macbeth thought to himself. " _Well, better have it done as fast as I can_." "Okay, you three! Start moving; let's get over this so everyone can do as he pleases with what has been given to him! Let's roll!"

The four exited the room of the factory they were in, and in a matter of minutes, they were again in the mansion and in progress of exiting Villa Ludmoore towards Heatherfield.

Danny directed himself to the (as he had started to call them) and started to turn them on. As the machinery started to function and the eyes of the robots of black metal started to light in red, Danny heard heavy footsteps and a powerful presence behind him.

"You are out again, human?" a deep, animalistic voice asked him.

"Yes I am, Khor." Danny answered, not needing to turn around in order to see that the one that had asked was the demonic werewolf. "What do you want?"

The Great Wolf waited a little into answering back, taken a little surprised by the human's tone. "Humph; your species has grown too arrogant to my liking during my absence, child." Khor growled. "You and Doomstad seem like you humans can just take into everything that it's thrown at you."

"Was that a threat, wolf?" Danny asked in a cocky tone, which make Khor to growl a little. "You know" Danny continued in the same tone of voice as the finally started to move. "For someone that thinks that we humans are inferior, you seem pretty good with helping Mr. Doomstad."

"Careful now, child." the demonic werewolf said. "The only reason I follow Doomstad is because I'm in debt with him. In the moment I have repaid that dept I will crush him, you and whoever I want if I desire to." Khor's growling tone softened. "But besides, I do respect the strong. Doomstad, his wife, and lately yourself; you are strong and I respect you due to that."

Danny sighed. "What do you want, Khor?"

The werewolf shrugged. "I have to kill time before my moment of hunting down the Nymphs comes. Now it seems that it's yours."

"You heard the boss, Khor; we won't let you out unless is one hundredth percent necessary." Danny answered. "And I will handle them tonight, you don't have to move from here."

At that, the demonic wolf-like creature turned around and went back to the deepest parts of the factory, near its power source, where the creature had established some sort of nest for himself.

"All systems operative." a mechanical voice took Danny out of his thought and forced him to focus again in the in front of him.

"Good, your instructions should be inside your heads by now. Do you know what are we going to do?"

"Yes" the two machines answered Danny at the same time. "Search and destroy."

The cybernetic young man's eyes narrowed in awe as he thought of fighting Taranee one more time, this one without teleporting weirdoes' interferences. "Yes, search and destroy."

The board is ready, the pieces over it. It's the Institute's turn to move.

* * *

 ** _Cook residence_**

Taranee was lying over her bed after having the most awkward and silent dinner with her dad. Well, she had had dinner. Lionel, meanwhile, was trying not to choke himself in the food he had poorly and rapidly made every time that the telephone ran. Sometimes it was her mother's or Peter's lawyer, sometimes it was some journalist, and other times (the majority of times) it was some asshole wanting to mess with her family by laughing at them and telling how pathetic her brother was, how much Theresa deserved to be in prison, or to rant about the horrible things they were going to do to both of them now that they were behind bars. With all of that, Lionel barely had time to sit properly and eat with her. A year ago the house was warm and full of life, Peter cracking jokes, her mother trying not to let her dad to do the same... Now, once the dinner had ended Lionel had just let Taranee to go to her room. The man was worn out, so much that he hadn't mind for Taranee to get out this night. He hadn't even noticed that Taranee had stopped using glasses, her own Guardian regenerative abilities and enhanced senses making her eyes to function normally. Or maybe it was that Lionel thought that she had opted for contact lenses again.

Taranee hated her mother right now. This, all of this shit was her fault. Hers and Danny's. She knew that it wasn't right, but Taranee couldn't avoid hating what he had done. She knew that he had every reason, and on top of that he was Nigel's brother, but... EVERYTHING was so much easier before this. Sometimes, Taranee just wanted to lie back in her bed, close her eyes, and sleep for the entire next year. What an apathetic thought for the Guardian of Fire.

But there were things to do. Lillian needed to be protected, and Riddle need to be stopped. And that was it. In the moment that was handled, in the moment that was settled, that this whole horrifying mess ended...

Taranee created a little flame in her palm and made it dance between and around her fingers. In the moment everything ended...

She didn't know what she would do. She had such a clear image of her future until now. End high school, start college; provably course something like journalism. But now all that seemed... not impossible, just unwanted. She didn't want to think about the future, she didn't want to think about tomorrow. She only wanted to be focused in the now. Probably because the now meant no visits to her imprisoned family. Taranee stopped the flame into the tip of her index finger and pointed it to the ceiling, projecting a little circle of light in the darkened top of her room. She closed her eyes and let the flame to dim out.

After a few minutes she felt Will's call into the Guardians' telepathic link. Her eyes opened abruptly, flaming in gold. It was time to move.

Streets at this hour wouldn't be so empty normally. But as Taranee walked them, it was clear that the festivities had taken the people to their homes, where they were probably dinning and waiting comfortably for the start of a new and, hopefully, better year.

That left Taranee alone in the streets, and actually, having the city like that until all the people got out celebrating was the best thing that could happen to the girls. They all needed this kind of peace in order to shine in all their glory.

Taranee got herself to the center of Heatherfield Plaza, the geographical and literal center of Heatherfield, with the City Hall being the most prominent edification, aside from some banks and coffee shops. In the plaza's center, a majestic and gigantic Christmas tree dwarfed everything around, making clear the time of the year. Perhaps this kind of things were the mayor's answer to what had happened in the shopping mall. Let the people to focus on Christmas, not wanting to attract the public's attention over that matter. Taranee wondered, had her mother not resulted being a corrupt… would she had opened an investigation over what happened? Would Taranee have been forced to reveal her secret to her just like Will had done with Mrs. Vandom? She didn't know. And besides, now it wasn't time for _what ifs_. Now it was time to focus in the mission ahead. Now, where were the others?

"Surprise!" a cheering voice said behind her before Hay Lin, practically out of nowhere, hugged her from behind. "Hello Taranee."

"Hello Hay Lin." Taranee greeted her friend. "From where have you just appeared? Weren't you at the Dragon?"

"Nah, my family is at the Dragon, we ended dinner a while ago. Since Great Aunt Mera has gone out too and we are out in vacation, they let me out even sooner!" Hay Lin answered. "So, I decided to use the free time in me a little, and then I saw you... here we are."

"Oh yeah… right." Taranee answered, a little embarrassed for not having that in account. "But where were you if not in the restaurant?"

Hay Lin winked and then pointed to her cheek with one finger. "It's a secret." the Air Guardian said, making Taranee to raise an eyebrow. Hay Lin had always been cheering and some kind of a ' _free spirit_ ', but never one to hold any secrets. But Taranee supposed that everyone needs to keep things to themselves sometimes.

After a little waiting, the other three girls arrived, and Hay Lin got straight into Irma's embrace, sharing a kiss with her girlfriend. "How was dinner?" Hay Lin asked.

"Nyeh" came Irma's response. "It's weird having all of mom's sisters under the same roof at the same time, and that's just not counting their families. At least they focus more on Chris than in me, but…" the girl shivered. "There are now three annoying little boys in my house, and that's just without counting Chris!"

"Well, speaking of family, my parents are going to take Lillian out to this very place to make her see the fireworks of New Year." Cornelia said. "So what about that?"

"The Regents will protect her." Will said in a calming tone. "I'm sure they will be able to hold back anyone who tries to take Lillian if necessary, and we will be in the zone if there is an attack, so…"

Something then caught the Guardians' attention, something very similar to the sound that a phone does when receiving a call. Recognizing what it was, Taranee took the sound in her head and clarified it so the others could understand it. It was a message, a _telepathic_ message. And there was only another person in Heatherfield that could send them.

" _Halinor? Is that you?_ " Will asked telepathically. " _Is something wrong?_ "

" _WILL!_ " came Halinor's voice, or more precisely, shout. " _We need help, and we need it now!_ "

That sentence took the Guardians by surprise. " _Wait, Halinor, what's going…_ "

" _There is someone attacking Cassidy's house!_ " Halinor's thoughts sounded full of fear.

" _Who?_ " Will tried to maintain her head cool, but it seemed really difficult to calm the former Guardian of Fire. " _Who's attacking?_ "

" _Some sort of… mechanic man made of black iron_." Kadma's thoughts stepped in. " _And another two, bugger than him. I don't know if I can keep him talking enough time, and if that fails I doubt that Halinor and I alone are a match for him._ "

" _We will be there, don't worry_." Will assured her, and then the communication broke.

"Danny" Taranee said with a slight hint of hatred in her voice. "That has to be Danny; there is no other person in the world that matches that description."

"And it seems that he has brought friends to the party" Irma remarked.

"Doomstad must have more robots like the one of the mall in storage." Will shouted in anger after saying that. "Shit! I didn't anticipate this! I should have thought that sooner or later Riddle was going to go after them!" the redhead composed herself a little. "Taranee, when we transform send a message to Matt and the Regents, this stinks to a diversion, but we can't let Kadma, Halinor and Mrs. Chacon alone. Everyone is ready?"

Her four friends gave her stares of pure determination. It was time to attack with everything their got, no matter what. Will caught as much air as she could in her lungs.

"Guardians Unite!"

The flash of pink light occurred as always, enveloping the girls and transforming their bodies into their Guardian forms. When the transformation ended, the five girls took flight. Well, at least four of them.

"Ehm, guys?" Cornelia asked. "A little help?"

The other four girls looked at her and saw how Cornelia still lacked her wings. " _So not even the transformation was able to heal them?_ " Will thought with sadness and guilt.

Irma descended to Cornelia's level and put her arms around the blonde. "Don't worry Corny, I'll give you a ride. Ready?"

"Ready." Cornelia answered. "Just make sure to not drop me of anything.

"Only if you behave adorable and nicely." Irma answered in her usual snarky tone.

"Oh, but I'm always nice and adorable." Cornelia said smirking as the girls took to the skies and into Cassidy's house direction.

* * *

 ** _Outside the Chacon residence_**

Kadma Starlighter considered her own self the one of a strong woman. Years of ruling Zamballa, wielding the Purple Jungle's Heart had only strengthened that belief. But now here she was, panting over the ground of the street, an arm broken, one eye closed due to being too damaged and the unconscious form of Halinor behind her. Clearly not as strong anymore. It was in moments like these that she envied people like Nerissa, even with anything that the witch had done, they always seemed able to get out of any situation. Kadma didn't know how to get out of this one.

In front of her, Danny was standing like no big deal was being dealt, arms leaning at his sides, eyes looking at Kadma like if she was nothing but a nuisance that needed to be disposed of. With each one of the at one of his sides, Danny felt quite unstoppable, especially by a frail old woman like the one that was in front of him, fighting to remain unconscious. This wasn't the main event, but it was a good heating.

"I will ask just one more time, granny. And if you don't want to end like your friend there" Danny threatened pointing to Halinor, "you better tell me what I want to know. Where are the others?"

Kadma knew about what he was talking about. He was asking for Cassidy, and probably Yan Lin (who was with her family) or maybe Mera. Shit, this was bad, Mrs. Chacon was inside the house, probably sleeping. No, by this point, she could have been awaken by the noise outside. If she came outside...

Kadma looked at Danny. "Let me answer you..." she said while panting, "just like an old and good friend of mine used to answer me when I asked her to let me copy her homework in high school." Kadma took air. "Screw you."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "You know that you just signed for the most painful way of doing this, right?" Kadma smiled proudly at the cybernetic young man. "Well, I suppose you are one of those that likes getting from bad to worse." Danny approached the former ruler of Zamballa, and with minimal use of effort and strength, pressed his palm against the woman's ribs and broke a couple of them. Kadma fell in one knee, her still intact arm moving fast to her side in order to soften the pain.

Danny looked down at Kadma. "One. Last. Chance." he said, and his voice almost lost all its humanity, reduced to a mechanical growl. "Tell me or that other arm is not going to be broken, it's going to be gone."

"Haha..." Kadma laughed dryly. "You know, if we have met just some months ago, I could have obliterated you in an instant. But right now..." Kadma moved her arm from her ribs to the ground. "This _must_ be enough."

Vines and pillars of stone rose from the ground, entrapping Danny and creating a defensive barrier between him an the former Guardians. Kadma approached Halinor as she could. The dark skinned woman shook the unconscious blonde. "Halinor, wake up; we have to get out of here before…" Kadma looked at the wall of stone she had created in time to see a metallic fist piercing it; Danny tearing apart the vines and the concrete as if they were nothing but frail glass. "That happens."

In a matter of seconds, Danny had smashed the wall and was once again in front of Kadma. "Well, that does it!" the cyborg said, both angered and exasperated. "No more Mr. Nice Guy for you!"

Danny threw a punch directed to Kadma's head, and had it impacted, it could have broken the woman's skull. But Danny stopped his fist in midair. Something had put his sensors in alert, and alerted by them, he jumped back in enough time to evade the descending blow of a sword. Looking up, Kadma saw how Endarno had put himself between the cybernetic young man and herself.

"You!" Danny exclaimed, recognizing the man that had prevented him from finishing of Taranee.

"About time!" Kadma yelled at the retired warden of the Tower of Mists. "Where the hell were you?!"

Instead of answering, Endarno moved his left hand over Kadma and casted a spell over her while holding his sword with his free arm and pointing it to Danny. "Your pain should be gone now. Take Halinor and get inside the house, when she wakes up she should be able to heal your wounds."

Mumbling and a little reluctant about taking orders like that, Kadma did as she had been told, dragging Halinor inside the house. Meanwhile, Endarno charged a spell in his left palm and adopted a more defensive position with his sword in order to fight Danny. The cyborg was walking in circles in front of the old warrior, almost like a rabid animal would do in a cage. He was expecting the so-called Guardians, not this annoying old man. " _Better dealt with him fast_ " Danny thought.

"Daniel Ashford, if I'm not mistaken" Endarno identified the young cyborg. Endarno looked at the robotic man in front of him. The old warrior's eyes travelled up from the feet to the head, stopping various times in the hardened eyes that Danny had. They were too stern, too consumed in hate for someone that young. "How old are you?" Endarno asked the enemy in front of him.

"None of your business." Danny answered dryly.

Endarno closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "I suppose that there is nothing that I can say to make you change your goal and stop this violence." Endarno looked again at Danny, and above the hatred and the anger, he saw only determination and resolve. "It's sad to see what pain and the desire for revenge can do to a man."

"Revenge is a sucker's game." Danny retorted to the old warrior almost automatically.

Endarno chuckled as he heard the word 'sucker' a term he still wasn't accustomed to. "I couldn't agree more with that sentence." And the old warrior charged towards the cyborg.

Endarno delivered a crescent moon slash towards his opponent's neck, but Danny blocked the sword with his metallic forearm. Retiring the weapon rapidly from Danny's reach, Endarno delivered another set of rapid, small attacks onto the cyborg's body, to no avail. Endarno was sure that this man's armor as too thick and hard for his sword to break it. And so, after delivering another blow Endarno rotated over himself and, at the same time he put some distance between him and Danny, he shot the energy that he had been accumulating in his free hand towards Danny at close range.

It didn't do much. When the smoke resulting of the explosion of the bluish white ball that he had shot cleared, Danny hadn't been forced to really move, arms crossed in a X over his face, feet only dragged a little into the ground due to the pressure of the impact. The cyborg lowered his extremities and looked at Endarno smugly. "Not even a scratch." He raised his arms and adopted a combat position. "You are fast, old creep, I'll give you that. But I bet that if I punch you, you will crack as easy as rotten wood. You are out of your league here."

"Big words from a man that punches defenseless women in the night." Endarno talked back.

Shouting in anger, Danny jumped straight towards Endarno, landing with his punch in a very similar manner he had done when Taranee had been rescued from that factory. Endarno evaded it by millimeters.

And like that, in a total reverse from before, Endarno had to focus on the defensive, while Danny attacked aggressively at the old man, who was barely able to block or parry the cyborg's claws and fists with his sword. Due to Danny's strength in comparison with his, Endarno had been forced to wield his sword with both hands in order to withstand the robotic man's blows. " _I don't have time to counterattack..._ " Endarno thought as Danny's hands clashed with his blade, the friction between the two metals creating sparkles due to the intensity of the fight. " _Or cast any spell!_ "

In one of the exchanges of blows, Danny changed tactics and grabbed Endarno's blade with his hand, holding it tight and strongly within his metallic palm. Then he kicked Endarno in the stomach and pulled from the blade, effectively sending the old warrior rolling to the ground and tossing his blade aside, which landed far away from them. Now with his hands free, Endarno was able to start casting a spell with a more destructive force than the first one, but then something cold impacted in his arms, making him unable to use his powers properly. Ice, it was ice. His arms had been frozen.

"What is this?" Endarno asked confused.

"Liquid nitrogen." Danny answered, pointing a small cannon that had appeared from his now opened left forearm towards Endarno. The cannon retracted itself into the cyborg's forearm. "I was saving it for Taranee, but I suppose it's good for you too."

Endarno condensed more energy in his arms, making them to gain warm and start melting the ice. But it was useless, freezing by liquid nitrogen goes much deeper than simply freezing the skin, and even if he could reverse the process with magic, he was worn out. Just like Kadma missed the Heart of Zamballa in those moments, Endarno missed the amount of energy in reserve that came with being a sage of Kandrakar. Endarno looked at the approaching form of Danny. " _When did I…_ " the old warrior thought, " _become so dependant in magic?_ " Endarno stood up from the ground, taking care that his arms didn't broke as he put more energy into them in order to defrost them properly. " _Don't warriors of Basilade…_ " Endarno eyed Danny, who was approaching him calmly, " _only need their bodies to take out the enemy in front of them?_ "

"Stay down old man," Danny said "this is getting sad even for me. If you don't then I will just…" Danny didn't end his sentence. His sensors had gone out of the charts and he fell back various steps. "What the…'"

Something fell from the sky just between Endarno and Danny, sending a powerful shockwave upon impacting with the ground that was able to shake it in such a manner that Danny was sent flying back, falling to the ground in his back and rolling a little before getting up again. He looked at the epicenter of the shockwave, where the blond, long hair of Cornelia waved in the night. The other four Guardians joined her short afterwards. Finally, the main show was here.

"Don't do that ever again, Irma." Cornelia said in a dangerous tone to her companion, who just smirked at her as if she had just played the biggest of jokes in history.

"Okay, can we focus in the problem in front of us?!" Will yelled, wanting for her friends to maintain attention in the threat that was ahead of them.

"Those are different from the one at the mall." Hay Lin said, pointing to the models as she put herself in front of Endarno and pushed him to go inside the house too.

Danny meanwhile, had met gazes with Taranee. The two didn't have to say anything, it was clear that in the moment the fight exploded they were going to go after each other. Looking back to Endarno, Taranee noted his arms were frozen. She recognized that type of freezing, it was the one resulting of liquid nitrogen; she had seen the substance in action in a lot of science fairs. "Will" the black skinned girl said to her friend and leader. "Let me take care of Danny."

"What?!" Will exclaimed. "Are you nuts?! Last time he almost killed you!"

"I know" Taranee said in a calm tone. "But it will be different this time, I promise. Please, just get the other two things out of the way. Trust me on this Will, I know I can win. I must."

Will didn't say anything. The redhead looked for the other three girls' gazes, and seeing that they didn't have anything against that, she decided to play with that idea. "Hay Lin, support Cornelia from the air and take one of those robots. Irma, you came with me, we will handle the other one. Taranee" Will looked at the Guardian of Fire in front of her. Will sighed. "Go and do whatever you need to. But if you seen yourself in trouble, just fall back with the rest of us. We will dealt with the others and go with you as fast as we can."

Taranee nodded and looked ahead. The had come to Danny's aid, positioning themselves slightly behind him, waiting for the command. Danny looked amused at the quintet of girls in front of him. The little Cook bitch seemed eager to face him alone, which he didn't mind. This time for sure he would be able to finish without interruptions. He cracked his neck and grinned behind his mask of black iron. He then waved his right arm towards the girls, making a signal for the robots at his side.

"Attack" Danny ordered.

* * *

Inside the house, Endarno had been able to get back some sensibility and mobility to his arms. Once inside he found Halinor already awake and Kadma getting healed. The old blond looked at him. "What is going on outside?" the former Guardian of Fire asked. "What has happened to your arms?!"

"The Guardians are taking care of that metal man." Endarno answered. "He… froze my arms. They will be better, don't worry. Once you have healed Kadma we should get out of here, and bring Mrs. Chacon to a safe… place… Oh Gods."

As soon as he had mentioned Mrs. Chacon, the old and short woman had appeared, dressed in one of her nightgowns, a gunshot in her arms, the weight of the gun clearly making moving hard for her. Halinor, Kadma and Endarno looked clearly surprised to her. Kadma, who was better than before, albeit her arm still needed some more time to be functional again.

"Mrs. Chacon, what are you doing with that?" Kadma asked her. "You shouldn't be out of bed at this hour."

"But, someone. Outside" Mrs. Chacon said as she pointed the gun to the closed door. "There is someone attacking… someone is trying to hurt my daughter."

Kadma put her sane hand over the elder's shoulder. "Mrs. Chacon, no one is going to harm Cassidy. She isn't even here this night; remember?"

"No! No one will take her from me again!" Mrs. Chacon said, aiming at the door as if something was going to cross it any second. How she was aiming while blind was something no one knew.

"Mrs. Chacon." Kadma said in a reassuring tone. "Cassidy will be safe, I promise you that." the former ruler of Zamballa was able to make the older woman to drop the weapon. "That's right, Cassidy is alright. But we are going to go outside now, alright?"

"Al-alright…" the old woman said as she groped Kadma's arm.

"You two, move. Now." Kadma said to Endarno and Halinor. "We have to bring this woman to safety. I don't know if this house will be standing when all this ends."

The two former sages followed behind her, as Endarno looked outside the windows of the house one last time. Outside, battle unfolded, and te guardians fought tooth and nail against the mechanical monsters that were born from Victor Doomstad's creativity.

" _This doesn't make sense_ " Endarno thought. " _We aren't their primary objectives, they should be focusing in…_ " Endarno opened his eyes wide as realization hit him. " _The Heart of Earth! But Doomstad and that woman are in the manor now! Then, who…?_ "

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield's streets_**

"Fireworks, fireworks!" Lillian Hale cheered as her and her parent went out of their home in order to see the pyrotechnic spectacle that was going to be delivered in the Plaza to welcome New Year.

"Well, someone sure is excited, isn't she?" Harold Hale remarked with a chuckle upon witnessing his youngest daughter's behavior.

"Of course I'm excited!" Lillian said. "They are fireworks, they are pretty!"

"I don't know why you had to drag the cat with us, honey." Elizabeth Hale said to her daughter while Lillian clenched Napoleon to her chest like he was a stuffed animal.

"But Napoleon wanted to see them too. Right Napoleon?" Lillian asked the cat in her arms, who just looked up at her.

"Meow?" the cat acted as he couldn't understand just what had been said to him, albeit he could. Truth to be told, he was glad that Lillian carried him everywhere at anytime, including this night. It provided with a very useful way to stay close and protect not only her, but also her family. Napoleon wouldn't straightly admit it, but he had started to care immensely about the Hale family as a whole, instead of just about Lillian. Maybe it was a side effect of being the little one's familiar? Maybe it was that their magical bond also meant to care about the ones she cared about? Napoleon didn't know, and actually, he didn't care.

The Hale family, sans Cornelia, walked through the still lonely streets. There was still enough time, but they were going early. This was due to one of Harold's little paranoias, this one centered around his obsession about getting early to wherever he had to go. At least half an hour before whatever had brought him there was going to happen, Harold Hale would be there, looking at his watch in order to make sure that he had arrived in time. As he usually said, better an hour soon than five minutes late. And with the passing of the years, Elizabeth had grown accustomed to that little and harmless obsession of her husband, trying to instruct it in her daughters too. Punctuality was indeed a virtue

Of course, none of the three had noticed the form of Huggles looking at them from the shadows of the nearby alleys, or the sound of flapping wings that Matt produced while flying over them. Interestingly, the Regents could be victims of not noticing too. In their case, none had noticed the form of Macbeth, keeping vigilance over them. He looked behind him, Declan, Jack and Helena ready to go. Madmen or not, the forcefully retired arms dealer had to admit that the now robotic Renard siblings and the now empowered former wrestler had accepted his command quite fairly. But Macbeth supposed that they were just eager to test their new abilities, so they didn't really mind obeying as long as they obtained their share of the action. Macbeth checked his little arsenal while Jack and Helen just scratched each other with their new claws as if they were little cubs, and Declan tensed his muscles, some of the turbines moving slightly, indicating that he only needed a word to jump directly in the fray. The old arms dealer was the only one having doubts about all this ' _kidnapping a little girl_ ' thing. But of course, he had gone too far to back down now. So as he charged a little smoke bomb into one of the riffles that Mr. Doomstad had given him, he kept repeating in his head, " _think about the money; think about the money_ ". Macbeth aimed to a point where the family wouldn0t be directly hit buy the shot, but yes by the gas. "As soon as I shot this one, you three go and start fighting those three things Doomstad spoke about" Macbeth directed to his companions. "I will set up the trap and then we will take the kid and go. When we are done, everyone to his own business, okay?"

"Yup" Helena answered.

"You are the boss here, old man." Jack said.

"I'm ready" Declan stated. "But just to be clear, I call dibs in the one that looks like a dog."

Macbeth rolled his eyes and pushed his finger nearer to the trigger. "In three… two… one…"

Macbeth pulled the trigger, and the smoke grenade flew in the Hale's direction.

"Showtime."

The smoke grenade fell a few meters away from the family and started to expel its content over the street, the only thing illuminating it the light of the old lampposts. Of course, the Hales reacted with both surprise and fear, falling to their knees coughing while their throats and eyes itched like never before. Napoleon, in the other hand, reacted only with surprise… and also narrowing his eyes and snorting between his teeth. It wasn't long before the lives of Harold and Elizabeth Hale changed forever as the Regent forms of Matt and Mr. Huggles landed in front of them, the waving of Matt's wings dispersing the smoke. But it wasn't to be so easy, oh no. Because as the smoke cleared, the two transformed Regents saw how they had been surrounded. Declan was in front of them, while the Renard siblings were at their backs, and also at the Hale's. The two adults didn't know what to do, but scream in fear and disbelief upon the sights of the augmented humans and the forms of the two magically powered Regents. Lillian didn't scream. She was too much surprised to do so, and besides, she was feeling that the winged man and the creature with similar features of a wolf weren't there to harm her or her parents at all. And on top of that, one of them looked exactly like…

"Matt?" Elizabeth asked, focusing in the winged Regent's face after recuperating from the shock. "Matt Olsen?"

Not wanting to lose very much time, Matt looked back at Mrs. Hale. It was in moments like these that he regretted ditching Shagon's mask after Will and the others had won over Cedric. He had thought about it as a way of showing how he had grew of his 'Nerissa phase' and that there was no trail of Shagon left in him… which turned out to be false, but he didn't want to use that mask again, even after making a deal with his inner demon. But now it wasn't the time for thinking in those details, neither it was for explaining things to Mrs. Hale.

"Hi Mrs. Hale." Matt said to her. "I know that you probably have a ton of question now, but it's not the time. Listen, these people want to take Lillian from you, so as soon as Mr. Huggles, Napoleon and I hold them, you have to run."

"I… what?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief. "That's Huggles? And what did you just said about Napoleon?"

"He said that we will hold them, Liz." the cat answered, talking for the first time in front of the three family members. "I'd have preferred to keep the act a little longer, but sometimes you have to what you have to do." And at those words Napoleon jumped from Lillian's arms, transforming into his Regent form in mid-air, landing between the Hales and the Renard siblings.

"What the…" Harold muttered, eyes wide opened at how Napoleon had changed from being a normal, black furred cat to being a huge humanoid cat creature in a matter of seconds. " _Did our cat just call my wife Liz?_ " the blond man thought to himself.

"Napoleon?" Lillian asked weakly as she looked at the transformed look of her pet cat. Then, after the initial surprise passed, a wide smile appeared in her face. "You can talk! And you are big!"

"And _I'm_ getting _extremely_ annoyed!" Jack exclaimed as he jumped straight towards the Regents and the Hale family, robotic claws extended. Fortunately Matt blasted him with one of his eye-beams, sending him to the ground, albeit the man got to his feet pretty fast. Helen laughed maniacally at her brother's display.

"Got another one in ya'?" Jack asked as a full psychopathic grin appeared in his face and he pointed his claws to the Regents. His very own and sharp fingers shot themselves towards Matt, who shielding himself with his wings, letting the projectiles to impact in them. It hurt more than anticipated, though; as if the projectiles were imbued with something that made them stronger. Matt was expecting them to bounce off his wings, but instead they nailed themselves into them. After merely seconds, another set of ten fingers reappeared in Jack's hands. Not wanting to let these people, whoever they were, any advantage, he flew towards Jack at full speed, taking him in the air and then flying straight into the ground, creating a crater in the concrete upon the impact. Jack didn't seem to be too bothered or harmed by this act as he fought back tooth and nail, nailing his left claw's fingers into the Regent's right forearm, and slashing his chest with the other, letting a really nasty looking and bleeding wound in it.

"Christ!" Harold shouted upon seeing this.

"Mr. Hale!" Matt yelled as he tried to put an end to Jack's struggle. "Run from here NOW!"

Harold didn't have to be told again. He grabbed his wife's and daughter's wrist and ran across the street, letting the Regents handle the upgrading humans behind. Lillian directed one final look at Napoleon, preoccupied even if knowing that he would be okay

Speaking of Napoleon, he was now looking how Helen approached him, moving the fingers of her claws as if she was some kind of predator, circling her prey before attacking. "Here, kitty-kitty, do you want to play with Helen?" the cybernetically upgraded woman asked. "I promise it will hurt just a little... _at first_."

Napoleon raised his own claws. "Miss, I don't know who you are, but you don't know with whom you are messing here." the feline Regent said.

Smirking as insanely as her brother, Helen let her robotic forearms to be opened in a very similar way than Danny's; except these ones revealed a circular chainsaw in each one. The two devices started to rotate, emitting a buzzing sound. "Neither do you!" Helen launched towards Napoleon, swinging her weapons randomly around her in an attempt to harm the Regent.

Even if her movements were chaotic and erratic, Napoleon had to jump over the cyborg woman in order to avoid being cut. He then turned around and delivered a powerful punch to the woman's stomach that made her cough a blood. But it didn't make her trail back. Instead, Helen retaliated swinging one of her chainsaws and slashing Napoleon across the same arm that he had used to punch her. Then she tried to do the same to his face, but the humanoid cat stopped her arm by grabbing it in with his hands. The chainsaw ended a mere centimeters of his face, rotating fast and aggressively.

Unfortunately for her, Napoleon proved to be stronger. Helen noted how the superficial metal platters of her arm were being slightly crushed under the pressure of the humanoid feline's claw, and Napoleon pulled the chainsaw away from his face. Then he head butted the woman, sending her to the ground in her back. She got back in her feet quickly and continued to swung the buzzing weapons towards Napoleon, and it didn't matter how much he hit her, she continued to do so. " _She either doesn't feel the pain_ " Napoleon thought, " _or she doesn't care. Either way, I'll maybe have to kill her if the others fail._ "

As Napoleon fought Helen, Huggles was facing against Declan Wolfe. The former pro wrestler had started to put his turbines to use in the moment he had been left alone against Huggles his musculature bulging to the extreme that a human's body could, resulting into a mountain of muscles of a man. Huggles, even if not given the ability to speak like Napoleon, could still think; pretty sharply in fact. And right now was thinking that this man was either going to give him the punch of his life, or have a heart attack. As Declan's fist collided with Huggles' face, the Regent knew that it had been the former. Tumbling a few steps back, Huggles punched Declan back. He didn't dodge it, welcoming the punch as it had been a long lost friend.

"Yes, finally..." Declan said, "FINALLY!" shouted the man as his veins bulged with more intensity and he started to exchange powerful punches with Huggles, sometimes trying to grab the Regent into some kind of wrestling technique. But Huggles proved to be too tough for that, and so Declan continued his fist fight against the Regent.

Meanwhile, Matt continued his struggle against Jack, avoiding the man's attacks and shooting him with his eye-beams from time to time. The modified human was proving to be quite fast to Matt's liking, and albeit very few of his shots were hitting him, it was clear that Jack was receiving more damage than him. Still, he could use a little more strength if needed.

" _Do you need help?_ " Shagon asked from inside of him.

" _No!_ " Matt thought back to the hate-demon. " _I will call for you when I really need you, but that moment it's not now!_ "

" _If you let me have the reins a little, we could dispatch this fool in the blink of an eye!_ " Shagon retorted. " _You have more power now that I had under Nerissa's command, and yet you are afraid to use it! No one will miss this man if dead!_ "

" _You don't know that!_ " Matt thought back, with enough anger that he got distracted and Jack was able to kick him in the ribs.

" _I told you!_ " Shagon continued with his protests, but Matt just decided to ignore him, focusing again in the cyborg in front of him. Jack seemed to be having the time of his life, and considering that Lillian had just got into safety, these three seemed to be doing this just for fun. " _First Sylva and now these ones_ " Matt thought. " _From where does Riddle pick them up?_ " Matt evaded yet another shot of Jack's fingers, and this time he flew directly towards the man, impacting in his chest and sending him across the street, making him hit the wall of one of the buildings. Jack fell to his knees and got up again, albeit way slower than before. " _Besides, I don't think these creeps can last much longer._ "

And Matt was right. Once the Regents had recovered from the initial surprise and that the cybernetic upgraded humans had lost the element of surprise, the Regents started to win the upper hand. It didn't last long until Helen and Jack were panting in the ground, her external armor quite damaged by Napoleon; and Declan was punched to his back by Huggles. The three Regents lined up, and looked down at the three defeated cyborgs. Being the holders of a world's source of mystical energy had its advantages. Being able to defeat almost everyone was one of them for sure.

"Who are you?" Matt asked them. "Did a man named Doomstad send you?"

"No, no." Jack said. "Who send us was another guy; ' _Sherlock_ ', first name ' _No shit_ '." the Renard brother said as he smirked at his own joke.

"You three…" Napoleon said after hearing Jack joke, as he healed the wound in his arm with magic. "You three aren't the brightest bulbs in the room, aren't you?

"No, I'm afraid that's my role." Three disk-like objects landed around the Regents, and as they did, they started to emit a series of waves of energy that created a dome of pure energy around them.

It hurt. It hurt like nothing that none of the three Rebels had felt in their entire lives. It was as if having bleach running inside their veins, burning their entrails like they had swollen acid. And as the three Regents fell to the ground, the three upgraded humans rose up, and Macbeth joined them afterwards.

"Who… are you…?" Napoleon asked, looking at the man garbed in dark clothes.

"I'm Macbeth, pleased to meet you" the former arms-dealer said, and pulling a strange looking gun out of under his coat, he shot each one of the Regents once, making them to scream in pain. Looking around he failed to spot the objective of the operation. "You let the girl escape, didn't you, trio of idiots?"

"No need to insult us, old man." Jack said, feeling annoyed. "We did as you told us."

"Yeah! And besides, we can catch the little kid in no time! Helen yelled at Macbeth, who just sighed in exasperation.

"Well, why don't you do it?" Macbeth said. "Bring her here immediately."

Sporting a full psychopathic grin, Helen ran in the direction the Hales had escaped, her augmented speed letting her to catch up with them fast. Seeing this, Matt started to incorporate. "I won't let you…" but it proved futile when Jack hit him in the face, sending him to the ground again. The feeling from his claws… it was the same that the one it was coming from the dome of energy that was keeping them down! Was this the static sound that Will felt every time she faced one of Doomstad creations?

"I have to give my praise to that Doomstad man." Macbeth said as he inspected his new weapon. "If these things can make such a number in _things_ like you, freaks" he said addressing the Regents, "I can't imagine what they could do to a normal man. I will gain a fortune selling them!"

Matt looked in impotence at the three men that were standing around him, and the form of the cyborg woman that was running in the distance. " _Shit, we got played out_ " he thought, thinking about the message that he had received from Taranee's telepathy before the Hales had gone to street. " _Damn it Will, where are you?!_ "

* * *

 ** _Chacon residence_**

Breathe. Count to three. Relax. Count to three. Think. Count to three. " _This is getting us nowhere._ " Will thought as one of the MK II evaded another one of hers and Irma's combined shots of electrified water. Cornelia and Hay Lin weren't doing any better against the one they were facing. Still, it was clear to Will that the hits that landed in these one counted much more than the ones that they had laid upon the one at the mall. These two were much thinner and smaller, and they didn't seem to the redhead as having the same weaponry as the one they had faced. They tried to attack with two long blades that had appeared from their forearms, and they moved pretty well, fast and fluid in comparison with the one of the one that Sylva had dubbed MK I… but the girls were proving equally fat. Will had to praise Cornelia for her imaginary, though. Since she couldn't fly, she had taken a piece of stone for the street and was making it levitate with her powers, in a very similar fashion that Kadma did with the flying leafs of Zamballa. If they only could land a hit! Several strategic scenarios appeared in Will's mind at the same time, and her mind started to swim through them until she found the most adequate one to deal with these mechanical speedsters.

Will looked past their battle against the robots for a moment while she prepared instructions for her teammates. " _Taranee…_ " the Keeper of the Heart thought with concern. " _God, I hope you know what you are doing._ "

Taranee and Danny were looking at each other. Even with the battle unfolding around them, neither of the two had made a move against the other. Danny was waiting for Taranee to make the first one, and Taranee… had too many things going inside her head now. In front of her was the brother of Nigel, whom she loved. A man that had been imprisoned unjustly; by her own mother no less. And yet, he had attacked innocents under Doomstad's orders, he had tried to kill her. And no matter how much she tried, it was clear for the Fire guardian that the one that had ruined her life, the one that had broken her family, had been Danny. After all, for a teenager, Guardian or not; anger can be an emotion that clouds the mind quite strong and darkly.

"Are you just going to stay there and wait until I oxidize, Cook bitch?" Danny asked mockingly. "I thought you were going to fight me, but considering what I did to you last time, I can understand you being afraid." The robotic man clenched his fists. "And I told you the other time Taranee; didn't I? That I would make you _scream_."

Taranee narrowed her eyes at him. She had made her decision. She thought about Kadma, Halinor and Endarno. Also about the shadow that was now permanently casted over her father's face. "And I told you too," the Guardian of Fire said, as both her hands and eyes lighted up in golden fire, her anger burning gloriously inside her soul. "That if you dared to touch one single hair of my friends' heads; that armor wasn't going to protect you."

Danny and Taranee charged towards each other, one running in the earth and the other one flying. This time, however, Taranee was ready for when Danny jumped at her, and using that sharp mind she had been gifted with, she dodged the attack by shooting flames from her feet, which propelled her upwards, avoiding Danny's grab.

The cyborg fell to the ground, were the impact of his weight made the concrete of the street to crack slightly. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to catch her, and that she wouldn't be so stupid as to fight him in close range, Danny deployed two miniature cannons from his forearms, each one of them able to shut the same liquid nitrogen-based bullets that he had used against Endarno. Seeing the cyborg's intention, Taranee charged golden flames into her hands and as Danny shot the icing bullets towards her, she shot multiple golden fire balls towards him. The some of the projectiles collided with each other, while some others got to their objectives passed that. While Taranee dodged the ice bullets, Danny let the flame balls impact with him. After all, he had been proved that his new body could take Taranee's attacks as if they were nothing. Why should he bother with dodging?

" _Yes, keep doing that_." Taranee thought as she watched how Danny let the flames smash against him. " _I just found your weak point_."

She descended to the ground and, not giving her opponent time to think, Taranee unleashed a full wave of flames upon Danny, enveloping him in a tornado of golden fire that rose itself to the skies as if emulating the biblical tower of flame that God had unleashed upon the Egyptians that persecuted the escaping Israelites. Inside the flaming tower, Danny's sensors were going insane due to the chaotic nature of the attack. "Attention. External armor receiving multiple damage" a voice informed Danny. "Attention. External armor's temperature reaching a temperature of 1000 Celsius grades. Recommendation: decrease external temperature before reaching breaking point."

With an angry yell, Danny jumped straight out the flame tornado, just to receive another blast of Taranee's flames directly in the face. Ignoring the attack, Danny charged towards the Fire Guardian and tried to punch her, but Taranee evaded him using the same extra propulsion by emanating flame from her feet. Positioning herself over Danny, Taranee charged the strongest flames that she could call upon and shot Danny from above.

"AH!" yelled Taranee as she bathed Danny's form in golden flames and her own dreadlocks and eyes lighted up in them. She felt... different. More powerful, stronger and also with much more confidence. And she didn't know why. She just felt different from before. " _Don't fight it_ " an animalistic voice said in her head. _"Burn him down to ashes. That's how a Dragon does_."

Taranee's flames' temperature raised more and more. Under them, Danny had started to feel something that he thought that he would never feel again since his transformation. Heat. Pure, strong and hot heat, making him sweat under the iron and mechanical plates. "Attention, emergency: external armor's temperature reaching 1300 celsius grades." Danny's information voice said. "Attention, red alert: external armor's temperature reaching 1400 Celsius grades. 1500... 1600... Decrease temperature..."

"Shut up!" Danny yelled, stepping out of the flames once again with yet another jump.

"Do you wish for me to start decreasing the armor's temperature using the reserves of liquid nitrogen?" the voice asked.

"YES!" Danny yelled at the top of his lungs.

Taranee descended to the ground, her hair and eyes still lit in flames. The concrete below her started to melt upon the touch of her feet, the resulting liquid a boiling and dense soup-like thing. " _Burn him... burn everything around you..._ " the reptilian voice continued to echo in her mind.

Danny's body was fuming now, probably due to some emergency mechanism designed to lower the temperature of the iron over his flesh, Taranee guessed. The cyborg stood up after the heat had been purged from his body, looking at Taranee. Even from the perspective of an outsider, it was clear that he was heavy-breathing behind the iron mask.

"We aren't so strong now, are we?" Taranee taunted him. "What's wrong, too thirsty to speak now?"

Danny recovered with the help of the armor and the nano-machines that ran through his blood. "You weren't this strong..."

"Funny thing about heat." Taranee said, paying no attention to Danny's words. "You know, even if you can resist the temperature of a volcano without melting, your body will retain the heat of it. And if you keep putting more and more heat into it, the temperature will raise and raise." Taranee smiled smugly for the first time in her life. "Especially when it's metal. It's basic thermodynamics, but I suppose you never understood that. But what else could you expect from..."

"An idiot that jumps to things?" Danny ended the phrase for her, surprising Taranee and silencing her. Then a clacked and metallic laughter escaped his mouth. "That's exactly what she told me. I suppose that you are no different from your momma, eh Taranee?"

That was the worst choice of words that he could make. Taranee glared at him and the golden flames in her eyes danced with fury. In that phrase, she heard every one of the calls that some lunatic made to her home, she saw each one of the looks that people gave her in the street. She saw her broken father. In that moment, at that phrase, Taranee reacted in the only way she could. "Don't you dare telling me that! I'm not like my mother, I'm not her!" Taranee stomped her feet on the ground, creating flames over the ground.

"Ha!" Danny laughed sarcastically. "Have you looked at yourself? Do you think that Khor hasn't tell us about those Purges of yours?! There is no difference, there never was! You lie and act at the back of everyone!"

"So have you!" Taranee yelled back. "You just attacked innocent people! Why don't you understand? You have to stop!"

"Cut the crap out. You aren't people. Mr. Riddle and doc are right about you, you aren't good for this world, nothing but monsters." Danny said with all the hatred he could put in his voice. "And now that I know that, do you really believe that I will stop?! Stop what, helping the only man that believed me, that gave me an opportunity?! I will never stop Taranee, I will never quit going after you! I will never let you in peace! For every year that I have spent inside that prison because of your pathetic excuse of a family, I will hunt you to the end of the world if it's necessary! It doesn't matter if I'm a sucker, I will have my REVENGE!"

Taranee looked at Danny, how angry and determined he seemed; how much hatred was present in his eyes. He wasn't going to stop... and neither was she. Not against him, not against the person who had ruined her life. At her back she could hear her friends fighting the other two robots, putting their lives in danger in order to protect the innocents. She didn't know what to do... at first. Then the answer came to her rather easily, accompanied by the sound of the breath of a big reptilian animal that repeated ' _Burn him... Burn him.._.' inside her head, drumming rhythmically. It was so obvious! It had been in front of her since the beginning, and she hadn't paid it any attention! But now there it was! "Then I... I..." Taranee mumbled angrily. Little by little, her hands, feet and wings lighted up in fire too. The ground, not only around her, but the whole street started to melt, the stone and the cement boiling and melting into something very similar to lava. The words escaped her mouth as if they had life of its own.

 _Burn him... burn them all..._

"Then..." Taranee said, as she eyed Danny, the draconic voiced echoing in her mind as strong as it could. The Fire Guardian made her choice, and as she spoke, she gave a step in a path that she had never thought herself walking, but that since that very moment, she would walk it for the rest of her life.

"THEN I WILL KILL YOU!"

 _Iron till it be thoroughly heated is incapable to be wrought; so God sees good to cast some men into the furnace of affliction, and then beats them on his anvil into what frame he pleases_. Anne Bradstreet

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, people, how was Christmas? Mine was funny, and even if with a little delay I have brought you a present! A Cliffhanger! Yeah, I had a few more things written over there, but I think is better to let them for the next chapter. Because I have left a lot of things without answering, haven't I? What about the party at the Ludmoore Manor? Where are Cassidy and Mera? What is going to happen to the Regents? And above all else, how is going to end this battle of Flame against Iron? You will have to wait, and I don't know exactly how much. I think that putting Taranee in this situation is the best way to end her little character arc. Since the beginning, I have portrayed her as the most faithful Guardian in the system (remember the Raphael issue back at the beginning of the Riddle arc) and the one that has taken the hardest hit discovering the darkness that can dwell within the light. And now here we have her, at just one step of murdering.**

 **In another note, the Gargoyles references that I mentioned amount to the characters that I had presented to you in the beginning. Jack and Helen are Jackal and Hyena, of course; while Declan Wolfe is a combination between Wolf and Dingo. Macbeth is… Macbeth, no differences in that way I suppose; and they are here to provide the Regents with a battle! I'm not going to masquerade it, they are here to fight, and that's it.**

 **So, next chapter we open in the Ludmoore manor and then we will get to Taranee's and Danny fight. Then the chapter will be dedicated to… other things. By the way, it will be called "New year of Flames, Passions and Surprises." Until that one appears, enjoy this present of mine and leave a review if you feel like it. Have a Happy New Year if I don't publish anything else before it hits!**


	15. Chapter 15: Riddle Arc Part VIII

**Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH. It's the property of the mighty Disney Company.**

 **A/N: Well, look at that, if it isn't good old Wondertown9 back in his WITCH fanfic. So… hey everyone, how's it going? A lot of time since updating this one, eh? But that's irrelevant, because I suppose that you all have been waiting for this one, so here it comes. I promised you all an action packed chapter, and here it is. Truth be told, I had to debate myself with various decisions with this chapter, but I think that the end result will be satisfactory. Let's go.**

* * *

WITCH

A different story

Chapter fifteen

Riddle Arc. Part eight

New Year of Flames and Surprises

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield, December 31st. Ludmoore manor_**

Jonathan Ludmoore had never thought about parties while creating his mansion in Heatherfield. Albeit spacious, the man had designed his home as nothing more than a place where pursuit his research. Thus, the building wasn't accustomed to many guests at once, to parties or large meetings. And that was exactly what was happening right now, due to the manor's new owners' little charity party. The manor felt incredibly weird due to this, you could even say that it felt uncomfortable.

And it wasn't the only one. Dean Collins, dressed in an elegant suit, was awkwardly standing upright in the middle of the large room where the guests were having a little cocktail previous to the main dinner of the night. Susan was standing next to him, but she was chatting with a small group of her co-workers, and Dean felt rather… awkward. Yes, the word was clearly awkward. He distanced himself from Susan, who he had to admit, looked spectacular that night, into a long, waving and elegant deep blue dress that conjugated with her hair and accentuated both the dark of her skin and her curves; and served himself another cocktail from the bar, a figure approached him then, taking another glass for himself.

"Something the matter, amigo?" the old man at his side asked, dressed in an even more conventional and traditional suit than Dean. "You look pretty down for this being a party."

"Well, it's not my kind of party." Dean answered.

The old man looked at him, then at Susan, who was approaching the pair once her conversation had ended, and then to Dean again. "Ah, acompañamiento para la dama." he said snickering.

"What?" Dean asked, clearly not understanding Spanish.

"I mean that you are here to accompany her."

Dean chuckled. "Yes, basically."

The old man laughed bombastically then, gaining the attention of various attendants. He extended his hand towards Dean. "Ricardo Herbosa."

"Dean Collins." the teacher answered, shaking his hand. After that the history teacher took a couple of glasses and headed towards Susan, who took the drink Dean offered her in a gentle manner.

"Thank you, dear." Susan said. "Did you finally socialized here?" she asked, gesturing towards Ricardo.

"A little," Dean answered. "Seems to me like the only normal man here. The others are either people with aristocrat complexes, or bootlickers hopping to gain Doomstad's favor." Dean took a couple of sips from his drink. "And let's not start with the fact that our hosts are people trying to murder your daughter." He whispered.

"I know," Susan said, and her face headed in another direction. Speaking with Heatherfield's Mayor no less, Victor Doomstad was standing there in one of his usual burgundy suits, one of the blue roses that could be seen outside in his lapel. Sephiria was only centimeters behind him, clearly bored by her husband's political conversation, but she had to oblige. She was dressed into a short yet elegant bluish dress, her arms covered by large, white gloves. Susan took her eyes from then, better not think too much into whom they really were and what they had done to her daughter. Of course, avoiding became an impossible task when the guests started to pass to the dining hall… and the Doomstad marriage started to greet them politely before entering.

Calm down. Relax. Don't let them see that you know who they are, and stick to the plan. Those had been her daughter's words. Susan didn't know how she could be so calmed about all this, so meticulous in her planning. But Will had faith in her and she won't disappoint her. Not again, not after the reveal of all the things she had been through.

"Mrs. Vandom, correct?" the deep voice of Victor took her out of her thoughts. Standing so near to him, she could have sworn that the man was imposing, not in a frightening but in a respectful way. His deep blue eyes looked at her and he took her hand and kissed it. _Classy_ , too much to her liking, if she had to be sincere. Sephiria, in the other hand, gave both her and Dean the widest smile in the world, and then hugged them both; insisting for them to pass to the dining hall. Once they had done so, Victor pointed out to a couple of men a few meters away from him.

"Bruno, Robert." Doomstad called, and the two, plain-looking bulky men approached. This were Bruno Caster and Robert Mercer; heads of Prometheus Industries' Security Staff, and from time to time; Victor's and Sephiria's personal henchmen. "Keep an eye over those two." Victor ordered, pointing to Susan and Dean.

"Do you want for us to go to the factory?" Bruno asked.

Victor pondered this for a moment. "In fact, yes, go down there and make sure that no one enters." he said as he handed a keycard to them. "Sephiria and I will be enough to watch over those two."

The hosts of the charity party entered the hall, and then Victor prepared himself to make an announcement once the guests had sat down. "Gentlemen, ladies; I hope you enjoyed the cocktail previous to this, because the dinner you will be having tonight will be quite special." Victor took a remote control from his pocket and pressed a few buttons in it. From the door the staff should have come with the dishes, instead appeared ten of the P.H.I.L automatons, each carrying several trays. "Tonight, your dinner had been prepared and will be served by the P.H.I.L units, in order to test and put to use their primary function, helping the normal man of the street."

The majority of the attendants clapped in approval, while the likes of Susan, Dean or any man that was hiding his envy and hatred towards Doomstad clapped in fake amazement. The only two people that weren't clapping were Ricardo and a pale, dark haired woman at his side. The two of them were looking at the robots with clear concern, as if they could see something that no one else could.

Victor didn't pay mind to this fact, his mind instead focusing into what he and Riddle had set in motion that night. " _I wonder if Daniel is doing well_."

* * *

 ** _In front of the Chacon residence_**

"THEN I WILL KILL YOU!"

Taranee's angry scream filled the night as more fire enveloped her already flaming body, her hands becoming overheated fists, and her eyes narrowing at the enemy in front of her. _Burn him… burn them all…_ ; continued to echo the voice in her head. Enemy, she had called Danny just now. Of course he was her enemy, it was so simple! What does a dragon do with her enemies? Burn them to crisps.

But the iron human wasn't going to let the threats of the Guardian to get to him so easily. Danny narrowed his eyes too, and gave an indication to his suit's IA in order to put all the reserves of liquid nitrogen to use in the moment in order to cool his armor the most possible. He cracked his neck, the metallic sound giving away that it hurt every time he did that.

"You're going to kill me, Cook bitch?" Danny let a cruel laugh out of his throat. Away, he could see how the other four girls still battled with the Mk. II, and if everything had gone as planned, Macbeth and the other three should have taken the girl as of now. Everything was going as the good Doctor had envisioned, and now he had the perfect opportunity to take the thorn that the Cooks had been in his family's side during all those years. He raised his metallic hands and adapted a combat position. "Bring it on!" he yelled.

And human and Guardian ran towards each other, anger driving them to their fullest. And in this conflict leaded by pain, who dies and who wins? Who wins and who loses? Can really someone win?

Taranee dodged the first of Danny's punches, the one directed to her face. She wasn't able to dodge the hook fist that came next to that one, though. Damn it all, even with all the flames around her body, Danny was far way from being the less physically mighty of the two, and his punches hurt a lot even in that form. She raised her flaming arms just in enough time to block the majority of blows that Danny directed towards the upper half of her body. Some of them slipped and impacted in her ribs, even if she tried her hardest. The ribs, always the damned ribs. And for what had she been punched, and hurt and humiliated? For Kandrakar, who was nothing but a rotten organization built upon lies and dead bodies? For her mother, who had never been better than any criminal? For what was she fighting? For her friends, Nigel, the innocents… it all seemed so vacuous now…

 _If you don't know for what fight, little dragon…_ There it was the voice again. _Then fight for the sake of fighting; fight to conquer the enemy in front of you. After all, wasn't he the one who hurt you?_

Taranee blocked the next incoming punch, taking it within her palm. Then she was the one to punch, an animalistic roar leaving her mouth as she did so. Her first collided with Danny's stomach, sending the man a few meters away. She didn't stop there. She flew and rushed towards her foe, slamming onto him and sending him to the ground. There, her body over his, she started to punch him repeatedly in his face, her fire knuckles hitting the metal, making it to become red hot. It hurt punching metal, but she didn't mind.

"That's all you got?!" Danny yelled. Apparently he wasn't really feeling the punches. But the heat, he must be feeling the heat. " _Fair enough, let's give him heat_ "; Taranee thought, and then roared, a full torrent of flames leaving her mouth and striking Danny's face at point blank range.

Danny screamed. Taranee didn't know if his eyes would withstand the heat she was producing with those flames. His mask seemed as if it was melting, and that must hurt a lot. Good, she wanted it to hurt; she wanted him to suffer each blow, each burn as if it was delivered by Hell itself. She wanted to enjoy this before he died. Danny struggled against her grip, and in one moment he brought his claw-like iron fingers to the back of her navel, nailing them against it. Taranee let out a scream and took flight immediately, landing shortly after that. Her flames moved fast and covered her wounds, cauterizing them. It wasn't real healing, but it had to suffice, her logic telling her that her Guardian's enhanced healing would be enough to heal them later.

Meanwhile, Danny had got to his feet and was now clawing at his own metal face as more screams surged from his throat. It really had hurt; good, that was good. Taranee smiled. Danny's fingers nailed in the heated metal, and in one single move, tore it away, ditching the metallic mask and helmet and revealing his face underneath.

The work of Victor Doomstad always looked for effectiveness, not beauty; and that showed on Danny's face. The black hair of the young man was long gone, the only think resembling it some wires that shut from the back of his head to the back of his armor. The skin was pale due to the fact that being covered for so long, except for two large burns under the eyes that ran all the way through the cheeks until his neck. Just under his eyes, where eye bags usually form were a series of little piece of metal, as one big one inserted in the left side of his head. He spat blood in the ground and, before it evaporated due to the heat her body was emanating, Taranee saw that the blood was black, and that his teeth were too.

Danny looked at her defiantly, arms open wide. "THAT'S ALL YOU GOT, TARANEE?!"

"ARGH!" Taranee condensed her flames around her fists, making them incandescent. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT I GOT!"

And flames clashed with iron once again.

* * *

 ** _The Hales_**

Running across the streets of Heatherfield at night, Harold, Elizabeth and Lillian Hale were trying to put the most distance possible between them and the monsters (for lack of a better term) that Matt and the others were facing against. Of course, they couldn't outrun a cybernetically enhanced human, and Helena Renard caught them in a matter of minutes, jumping over their heads and landing in front of them, her claws scratching the ground as she landed in all fours. That, added to her maniacal grin, clearly made her look demonic, or at least it did in the eyes of the Hales.

Harold was quick to put Elizabeth and Lillian behind him, the mother hugging the daughter tight to her chest, clearly not wanting for Lillian to see what was coming.

"there, there; little Lil." Helena said into a disturbing tone of voice. "That's your name, isn't it? Lillian, right? Don't you wanna come with Helen and be friends with me?" the woman licked her claws. "I bet that we would be pretty good pals."

"Leave my family alone!" Harold shouted, clearly afraid of the woman in front of her. "If you dare to touch one single hair of her hair I will…!"

"Charge at me and die, probably." Helena replied nonchalantly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What do you want?!" Elizabeth yelled now. She could feel Lillian trembling now that she was in contact with her little body, and Elizabeth fought back her inner impulse to cry out of pure terror.

"Wasn't I clear?" Helena said as she started to circle the Hale family. "I want that kid to come with me," she made one of her circular chainsaws to come out of her forearm, "and I promise you that I'll be a good girl and let you go, mommy and daddy."

"Why her?!" Elizabeth shrieked again. This time it was Lillian who tightened the hug, and a whispering 'Mom...' came from the child.

Helena laughed at the little misery show she was causing. "Don't you know? Your pretty little daughter is the Big Prize!" Helena stopped moving and her expression changed yet again to one of maniacal glee. "And damn it all if I'm not the one going to win this game!"

"You are insane if you think that we will let our daughter go with you!" Harold exclaimed, to which Helen just laughed, swinging her rotating chainsaw from side to side.

"Insane, yeah; never heard that one before." Helen stopped walking around them and pointed her weapon towards Harold. "You know... the bosses said to take the girl and no harm her in any means." Helen gave a few steps and raised her weapon. "But, surprise, surprise!" Helen punched Harold in the stomach, making him kneel in the floor, growling in pain; and she raised her weapon as her eyes became injected in blood due to her fury. "They didn't say anything about not reducing you two to a couple of FUCKING BLOODY PULPS!"

The chainsaw descended towards the man's head, and he closed his eyes as if hoping that not seeing it would soften the power of the blow, or maybe made it so it's effects were fast and painless. " _Take Lillian. Take Lillian and leave, Elizabeth._ " Harold thought. He should have said it aloud... but he couldn't.

The chainsaw was now mere centimeters from his head...

 _CLANCK_

But it didn't touch him in the slightest. Instead, when Harold opened his eyes he found the cyborg woman's weapon stopped in mid air by a... medieval sword? And the man's surprise just became even bigger when he looked at the person holding the sword. None other than his own daughter's boyfriend, Caleb. What was he doing there? How was he there?! Why was he carrying a sword?! How in the name of God did he...?

The former rebel leader parried the woman's attack, forcing her into redirecting it to the ground by changing his sword's direction. As soon as the chainsaw was directed to the ground, Caleb rotated over himself to gain impulse and kicked Helen in the face (the only place where she wasn't wearing metal) without much of a problem, sending her tumbling away. Caleb looked back at the Hale family then. "Are you alright?"

"Wha... Yes, I think." Harold answered. "How're you here? How did you do that?"

"Training." the young man answered.

"But you are a waiter in Yan Lin's... oh God you aren't, right?" Harold said as he remembered how their pet cat and Matt had turned out to be... he didn't know what they exactly were.

Caleb put in the best smile he could. "Sorry. I know that this must be a little shocking for all of you. Cornelia never wanted for you to learn... GET DOWN!"

Caleb parried another of Helen's incoming attacks, this time unable to counterattack. As he blocked the attacks of the cyborg woman, he did so their battle was taken away from the Hales. "Blunk! Fold them away!" Caleb instructed as he and Helen exchanged blows, the blade of his sword clashing with her claws and chainsaws.

"Who is Blunk?" Elizabeth asked, just to be interrupted by quite the strange and disgusting smell... coming right up from the small green creature that, apparently, had appeared alongside Caleb. Talk about shocked senses. From where had the two of them appear?

"Hello!" greeted the green, goblin-like creature. "Blunk will give you a ride home!" he then swung something that Elizabeth and Harold interpreted as one of those relic horns that appeared in museums, except that this one opened something in the air. Something similar to a blue, wavering tear in the air.

"Cool..." Lillian said, the fear of before haven't straightly disappeared, but yes mellowed down.

"Enter the Fold, now!" Caleb said, and considering how this day had turned out to be; Harold Hale considered his options. Either enter the weird looking tear in the air that his daughter's boyfriend had made that weird looking thing to open... or face the totally crazy bitch that had threatened with killing him and his wife, and take their daughter away. Yes, the answer was clear.

Harold took both Elizabeth and Lillian by their hands and, not wanting to think very much into what they were going to do, they rushed inside the Fold letting the battle behind as the Passling closed it; appearing right inside their home, as if they hadn't gone out in the first place. Of course, the first thing that happened was for Elizabeth to threw herself at Lillian and hug her between tears. Harold kept staring almost in a catatonic manner to the spot where the Fold had closed, trying to find a logical explanation to what had happened, to find no one. And Lillian, little and curious Lillian stared into the same direction as her father, but her expression was more one of awe. " _Magic_ ," she thought happily. " _That was magic_!"

In the other side of the Fold, things weren't so calm. "Do you have any idea of what you have done, you asshole?!" Helen shrieked her lungs out as she looked beyond enraged at Caleb. Their exchange of attacks had ended when Helen had seen her prize disappear inside something taken out of Stargate. "Jack's gonna kill me for this fuck up, and it's your entire fault! I'm going to tear you to shreds, kiddo!"

Caleb pointed his sword towards the cyborg woman, cutting the air in a menacing manner. "When you are ready."

Helen raised a confused eyebrow and looked at the young man's offer. "You're kidding, right? C'mon, look at me. I'm beyond humanity now, and you're just a kid with a sword." Helen remarked cockily as she put her claws in her hips.

A dry chuckle escaped Caleb's mouth, that after a few seconds evolved into a full mocking laughter, to Helen's stunning. "Yes, I'm just a kid with a sword. But this kid with a sword has been fighting monsters, surviving with the water that he took from the rain and striking blows against a tyranny and individuals with the power to blow up mountains for more than three quarters of his life. And you? I have seen the likes of you before; I have _killed_ the likes of you before. You are one of those that get their hands in a little piece of power and think that they are justified in doing as they please. Demanding higher and higher taxes, killing and pillaging because they have an army... or breaking families just because they can." Caleb's mocking smile disappeared. "Do you want to know something that I had learned lately? I hate people who break families. And here I am, come to this world to see the woman I love, just to find that a crazy monster was pursuing her family. I will repeat myself," Caleb swung his sword once again, pointing it at Helen. "When you. Are. Ready."

Helen Renard wasn't someone that had too much patience or known for reacting well to taunting. She rushed at Caleb with her claws and circular chainsaw extended, the intention of seeing the soldier's guts flying out of his body clear in her eyes. Caleb, meanwhile, waited with a calm position, sword held up with both hands in defense. When Helen reached him and attacked Caleb jumped to the side and rotated over himself once more, adding the strength of the rotation and gravity to his blow. Unfortunately, he was forced to hold his weapon just with one hand in order to balance himself, and the impact wasn't as strong as it should have. Sparks flew from the clash between the metals, and albeit Helen was the one losing in that exchange, her body didn't crack.

" _I have to found a weak point and strike with everything if I want to cut through that metal..._ " Caleb thought. "Blunk! Search for the Guardians or the Regents, they shouldn't be far away!" he instructed the Passling, who obediently started to sniff the air and follow the familiar trail of odor that belonged to Matt and the others.

"Good luck with that!" Helen yelled at him. "My brother and the other two are with those freaky beasties!"

" _So there are three more opponents. Better deal with this one fast then_." Caleb thought again. " _Damn it Matt, what's going on?_ " Caleb looked around and spotted a cracked wall in a building. That would be enough to deal with this whore.

He and Helen engaged in another exchange of blows, though Caleb was obviously in the defensive, her attacks making him move back towards the wall. This woman was an idiot, and an untrained idiot at that; Caleb knew that much. She was full of openings, charging at him like a rabid dog. If she would be wearing nothing than a normal armor, Caleb would have defeated her already, but it was clear that her body had been (somehow) remade to withstand attacks like the ones he could deliver. But if the metal of her body worked in the same vein that an armor suit did, then the young soldier also knew that it must be weaker in her joints.

Caleb found himself trailing back towards the wall he had spotted before and towards where he had directed his battle against Helen. The woman gained more confidence as she thought she was cornering Caleb, when in reality it was the other way around. Years and years of fighting a foe with clear superiority in both numbers and resources had made Caleb and the rest of the rebels to found other ways of fighting. Use the terrain in your advantage, and also the confidence that better equipment gives your foes in their disadvantage. Caleb's back touched the wall and Helen smirked, their fight stopping for a moment. "You done goofed, boy!" she exclaimed triumphantly as her claw was directed towards Caleb's heart as strong as she could throw it.

This time there wasn't any flashy pirouettes, nor complicated and practiced movements with the sword. This time Caleb just slipped to his left, letting Helen's right claw to impact against the wall, piercing the stone and getting trapped in it. Helen's mind needed a few seconds to process what had happened, seconds that Caleb used to raise his sword high with both hands, jump in the air, and deliver a descending blow with the strength and rudeness of a Galhot lumberjack towards the woman's unprotected elbow. The sword hit metal, but this time there wasn't any sparks, as it slipped between the junctures of the plates and this time cut deep. There was a mix between rasping and wet sounds, a scream of pure pain, and then Helen was in the ground, while her right arm was still attached to the wall.

"FUCK! Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!" Helen cursed in pain as she rolled in the ground, blood pouring from her new wound, albeit Caleb noted that it was less than the wound resulting of the cutting of an arm should have let out. "Asshole, what do you think you are…?!"

Caleb kicked the woman in the face, breaking her nose. "I have cut your arm, that's pretty obvious. Tell me, were you going to kill Mr. Hale back there?"

"What if I was?!" Helen yelled in anger. Caleb stomped in her new wound, making a splash of blood mixed with some strange liquid that Caleb interpreted as what the Earthlings called 'Fuel' to exit it.

"If you were, then I'm going to cut off your head." Caleb remarked coldly. "But, if you tell me what your three companions can do, and what they're up to, then maybe I will feel merciful. Now, listen carefully here; if you lie, you die. If you refuse to talk, you die. If you try to attack me again, you die. I know how the likes of your work, you don't probably even know the people you're working with for much; so tell me," Caleb said as he put the tip of his sword against Helen's throat. "It's worth dying for them?"

Helen looked at the man who was now in the verge of cutting her throat. "My… my brother Jack is with them, with other two. Jack is almost the same as me. Then there is some really strong guy, and the old man, who just uses weird guns. They have the freaks, the Regents, I mean, with them. Doomstad gave us something to block their powers. I swear it's everything I know!"

"Thank you." Caleb said, and kicked her again across the face. Who was this Doomstad? With that kind of name, only an enemy, the same trash as _Phobos_. "Don't follow me or I will finish what I started."

He let the wounded cyborg woman stirring in the ground, rolling and rolling in order to keep the pain away. Good news, the Hales were now in a safe place. Bad news, he was now in a numeric advantage against people with ways to subdue the Regents. Well, he never was someone to let schematics to bother him; so he ran in the same direction he had seen Blunk heading into.

" _Looking for peace and I stumble in another war_ …" Caleb thought with sarcasm as he ran. " _Cornelia, where are you?_ "

* * *

 ** _The Guardians_**

"Stay still, you mechanical monster!" Cornelia shouted to one of the Mk. II, as it jumped and evaded another one of her rocks. Hay Lin was having exactly the same problem with striking it with air currents. This was frustrating! These iron creeps kept jumping and dodging everything they threw at them, attacking the girls at every opening they had. And the worst of all? Their telepathic link had ceased working when they had let Taranee face Danny all alone. She still saw the flash that her friend's flames produced from time to time… so death wasn't the answer. That made Cornelia just a bit more relaxed, and she supposed that the other three had come to the same conclusion. Still, without telepathic link, communication and coordination was harder, but not impossible. After all, she had got probably the person that better impersonated the sentence 'Made of imagination'.

"Hay Lin!" Cornelia shouted to the Guardian flying above as she made various rocks to converge in one point and form an enormous ball. "How about playing a little catch the ball game?"

Hay Lin smirked after understanding what she meant and started to prepare a circling current of air around the area, and Cornelia threw the 'ball' against the MK. II. Of course, the mechanical being dodged the attack like it had done with the rest, but this time, the 'ball' ended in Hay Lin's circle current, and she redirected it towards the robot, making it impact in its back and sending it to the ground. There, Cornelia didn't lose a second and wrapped the being in the tightest vines and rocks she could find from underground, even adding a bunch of electrical wires to the mass. Lifting the being from the ground, she launched it towards the one that Will and Irma were facing, both robots clashing and falling some meters away.

"Oh, thanks Corny!" Irma thanked as he prepared the biggest blast of water she could create. "I was getting tired of not giving these guys a shower!"

The blast of water impacted with the two robots, not only hitting but making them wet. Will didn't need to think more than a second in order to charge a blast of Quintessence between her palms. " _Let it go, Will_." she thought. " _Don't limit yourself, let it all go…_ " she thought as she tried to tap in every bit of strength she had inside of her.

 _Let it go, child… this is freedom…_

Then something happened. Something inside of Will moved in its sleep, slowly at first in order to get off itself of the dreams of the long night, until it awakened, stretched its arms and shouted to the heavens as if wanting to break the world. The sensation, burning as magma expanded from the deepest insides of Will until it was over her whole body. Little by little, the sparks and lightning product of the Quintessence she was amassing in her hands started to darken and change color, from a bright blue to a dark, crimson and blood-like red of a similar tone to Will's eyes and hair. She unleashed the blast with a roar-like scream, striking the pair of robots and electrocuting them to such an extent that this time, in opposition to the result of their fight in the mall, there was not trail left from the targets of her attack.

"Finally!" Irma stated as she, Will and Hay Lin descended to ground level and Cornelia approached them. "I think that they were trying to annoy us to death! But seriously Will, good one there, even if a little overkill."

"Yeah, and what's up with the red lightning?" Hay Lin asked, but Will wasn't listening to them.

Instead she was looking at her palms, where tiny streams of red lightning were running from her wrists to her fingernails, as sparks of the same scarlet color were circling around her hair and the rest of her body. She felt the Quintessence in the lightning, but there was something more in it. It felt… new, but welcomed, right, appreciated. It felt _good_.

"Will! Hey!" Cornelia said as she shook her friend by the shoulder, getting her back in reality.

"Whoa! Sorry, sorry; lost myself a little there." the redhead answered. "As for the red lightning…" Will said as she clenched her fists and let one last stream to ran through her whole body, from head to toe. "I don't know, but I like it."

"It goes well with your hair." Cornelia pointed out.

"Thanks." Will said, and then breathed deeply. "Anything from Taranee?"

The other three shook their heads. "The telepathic link has been off since we left her," Hay Lin remarked with concern in her voice. "We shouldn't have let her go alone, Will."

Will sighed. "I know. But now we can go and give her a hand." She looked at where the fuming paste that the robots were laid. "And then get in contact with the Regents to know if everything has gone well with your sister Cornelia. I think that this is just a distraction."

Three Guardians flew and one made a piece of the street to levitate with her over it towards the point in which Taranee and Danny were fighting. It wasn't hard to find, it was the spot in which the temperature of a cold, winter night of New Year reached almost fifty degrees in the Celsius scale. Literal waves of flames were dancing in the air as if they were lamenting spirits, and the only thing the quartet could do was stare in borderline horror at the show that was displaying in front of them.

Taranee and Danny were fighting, that was no surprise. The _way_ they were doing it, and the state they were in? That was the cherry on top of everything that had transpired since a metallic monster had dropped from the sky, crashing their peace and tranquility in an instant.

Danny had lost his face, well, the metallic case that enveloped the real one, the mask of black iron. Other parts of his armor were lacking too, one of the forearms was gone, and a side of his chest's plate had melted too. Taranee, however, was in no better condition. Her body, albeit almost being fire had several and severe bruises all over itself, complemented with various slashes product of Danny's claw-like fingers, no doubt.

And right now, both of them were just punching each other as if there was no tomorrow. Albeit both of them were tired, their mutual anger towards the other kept them in their feet, fighting even when their bodies and minds were clearly yelling at them to stop. Breaking bones, tearing muscles, melting metal and lashing wounds and deep cuts. What had started as a battle between projectiles and swift movements between the two had now devolved into a bare and primal fight of punches, both of them shouting and yelling pure guttural growls. Looking from a distance, the other four girls couldn't avoid thinking that it looked more like a fight between animals than between persons.

"What are they doing?!" Cornelia yelled in concern. Hay Lin had taken her hands to her mouth, suppressing a gasp of horror, and Irma wasn't able to look directly at the battle unfolding.

"Fighting," Will answered plainly.

"They are going to kill each other!" the blonde yelled.

"We promised Taranee to leave this situation to her," the redhead explained. "If we see that this gets out of control, we will intervene."

"Will, you can't be serious!" Cornelia complained again, with all the reason in the world. "Look at her!"

"I'm looking Cornelia!" the quintet's leader yelled too. "What I'm supposed to do?! What are we supposed to do?!"

At that moment, the sound of a shot cut the night. The four girls stopped all their movements, knowing that it couldn't have come from them or from the combatants. Hay Lin pointed to the battle of Fire against Iron, with a surprised expression on her face. "Look!"

The fight between the two combatants had stopped too, and a third one had joined them. Holding a gunshot, and positioning himself between the two opponents, had appeared no other than Nigel.

* * *

 ** _Cook residence. Hours before_**

Lionel Cook leaned against the frame of his house's door. In front of him was someone he had not expected to see knocking at his door. He had gone quite slowly, preparing a gentle yet quick response for any reporter in order to dismiss him, or a welcome if it was any lawyer with any new; but the big man had been rendered speechless at the sight that had greeted him. The kindly face of Nigel Ashford, one hand raised in friendly greeting, expression crowned by a little smile and an awkward 'Hello' leaving his mouth. Lionel had asked what the boy wanted. As if he didn't know already, it was pretty obvious. And Lionel had answered sincerely, not wanting to really lie to the boy.

"Are you sure she's at this Chacon's house?" Nigel asked. Of course he would believe the big man. Of course they would talk like that. Both men knew that the other was not at fault in anything related to this situation, yet neither did the teen mention the man's wife, neither did the man mention the teen's brother. And of course, none of them mentioned Peter. Nigel just wanted to talk with his girlfriend; and Lionel… Lionel was too tired to really get himself into any type of discussion.

"That's the only place she could be, if she's not at the Dragon." Lionel clarified. "I'll give you the direction, don't worry." Lionel went inside his house for a moment, and came back to the door moments later, carrying a paper in his hands. He handed it to Nigel. "If she's not there, I don't know where she could be."

Nigel took the paper and read it silently. After doing so, he raised his head and looked at Lionel. "I'll be going now, Mr. Cook. Thank you very much."

The teen turned around and walked away from the house, just for Lionel to call him one last time. "What is it, Mr. Cook?"

Lionel shook his head. "Nothing, take care."

"Sure." Nigel answered and head into the address' direction. Walking through the streets in this specific night wasn't a very pleasant experience, considering that everyone else was either in their homes with their families, laughing in the streets, or heading to some club in order to party. Why couldn't everything just stay the way it was? If that had been the case, right now he and Taranee would probably be one of those laughing teens whose only preoccupation was to find a place into where make out without peeking eyes.

As he got nearer and nearer to his destination, Nigel noted how the number of people decreased and decreased until there was no one but him out in the streets. He supposed it was normal, since this Cassidy's house was far away from the city's center. And surprisingly, he somehow noted how the temperature raised and raised too as his proximity to the house. Now that was strange, but he didn't really thought much of it... until he reached the place he was trying to get into and he stumbled into a literal war zone.

The elements flew violently into every direction, robots jumped at every chance trying to land an attack over fairy-like figures that were clearly fighting them. Fairy-like figures that looked too familiar not to recognized. Yet when one of the projectiles that was being used in the battle, a rock of his size, landed few centimeters away from him, Nigel ran and entered the nearest house out of fear. Fortunately, the house seemed emptied when he rushed inside; Endarno, Kadma and old Mrs. Chacon long gone.

He was beyond confused now, the whole structure of the house trembling at any time due to the fighting, the sounds from the clash outside getting easily through the crystals of the windows. Was he sleeping, having a dream? He pinched himself in the arm almost in childlike manner, and it clearly hurt No, clearly not a dream. Then how in the name of God looked as if the outside of the house had become something out of the mind of Michael Bay?!

Nigel was walking erratically inside the house now, his body moving in its own due to the nervousness it had in storage. "Calm down Nigel, calm down;" he thought to himself. " _You just need to calm down, figure out what the hell is going on, and find Taranee and… Augh! What the-?!_ " Nigel had stumbled upon something in the ground, something that couldn't be quite seen due to the darkness of the insides of the house. Maybe he should have turned the lights on upon entering… He took the object in his hands, trying to find what it was by touching it and identifying its form.

" _A gun?_ " he thought. " _Why would be a gun in a house?! Oh God, I have to calm down unless I want to beat the record of youngest man with a heart attack…_ "

The house's structure trembled again, and this time the majority of the windows cracked, if not outright shattered. Nigel couldn't avoid the impulse of looking outside of using one of the windows, and what he saw almost made his mind to shut down. Because in the storm of flames and blows, he could heard them shouting; because he could heard their names, even recognize their faces.

His grip around the gun tightened.

* * *

 ** _Now_**

Nigel stood silently between what he supposed was Taranee and what he supposed was his own brother. The two of them had stopped in their tracks and where looking in disbelief at the teenager's appearance, carrying a gunshot, no less.

"Nigel?" Taranee asked weakly. It was hard for her to recognize him; everything looked like ashes in her eyes at this point, and the voice sounded louder and louder at every second that passed…

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Danny yelled, but the only response he got was for Nigel, for his little brother to point the gun into his direction.

"I could ask the same to the both of you!" Nigel yelled. "What the hell is going on?! Why do you look like that?! Explain to me why everyone has told me that you are dead when you aren't, Danny!" He then turned to Taranee. "And you! Why do you look like that too?! What were you two doing beating each other to death?!"

None of the two combatants answered. They just remained silent, their gazes focused in the dark-brown haired boy between them. Nigel's eyes, meanwhile, shifted between the two, growing angrier and more desperate at every second that passed, the situation clearly picking in his already disturbed nerves. "Answer me! Talk to me! Explain to me!"

He received no answer.

"EXPLAIN!"

* * *

 ** _The Regents_**

As the battle between the girls and Danny came to a halt; Matt Olsen and his Regent companions were trying to do exactly the opposite, fighting with all of their strength in order to escape from the dome of energy in which the auto-proclaimed Macbeth had put the three of them. It didn't matter how much the winged humanoid tried, he couldn't either access his magic, neither could he change forms, nor talk to Shagon inside his mind. Whatever this energy was, it was completely canceling their magic, leaving only their physical strength. And if one of them came close to get free of the dome of energy, Macbeth would shot them with a blast of his gun, and they would be again at the start point. Matt had never felt so damn useless, even when he was nothing but a normal, untrained human being trying to help the girl he had a crush on with their adventures in Meridian. He wondered where Will would be at that moment, what was probably keeping her busy while they were there. Was this the trap, or the distraction? Or was whatever Will was doing instead? Were both situations traps? Or were both distractions? He really wasn't the best for this strategic stuff… But Lillian was in the verge of being captured, and he couldn't allow that, so he kept fighting and struggling After all, that was the thing he was best at! Unfortunately, Macbeth shot him one more time as he tried to rise, sending him back to the ground.

"If I were you I would have stopped doing that by now." Macbeth told the winged Regent. "Can't you see that that you can't escape from that? This weaponry was designed to specifically contain you."

"Oh, we are really stubborn guys." Matt answered coldly. "You will learn that is our best strength."

"I seriously doubt that," the old arms dealer answered with a small grin in his lips.

"Why can't I at least skin one of the animals?" Declan protested, his muscles still bulging since he hadn't dispelled the effects of his augmentations.

"Because that's not necessary, and we won't get more profit by doing so." Macbeth answered. "Think and try to be a little pragmatic, Declan. Our objective here is the girl, and nothing else."

"I signed up in order to have a good fight!" Declan protested again. "Not for just wait with my arms closed until that crazy woman gets her hands in a little girl!"

"Well, you may reconsider it, since I was the one put in charge." Macbeth answered in an angry tone this time. "When we have the girl, you can do as you please with them."

"Speaking of my sister," Jack spoke next. He was standing a bit away from the other two, metallic arms closed over the chest, looking in the direction his sister had gone _too_ much time ago. "Do you really think that she's okay? I'm starting to worry."

"The Ashford boy is with those Guardian-girls, so is impossible for your sister to encounter anyone that could prove a threat to her." Macbeth explained, quite confidant on his own strategy. Of course, he was proved wrong when he started to hear an incoming sound from the other side of the street, the unmistakable sound of something metallic hitting the concrete of the ground. Looking in the direction the sound was coming from, Macbeth was met with the sight of a man in his late teens with auburn clad in a long brown jacket and carrying what Macbeth identified to be a typical medieval sword.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Caleb said from a distance.

"Caleb!" Matt shouted from his position, albeit he was extremely grateful to see a friendly face. "Be careful, these guys are stronger than they look!"

Caleb nodded to his friend's counsel and then pointed his weapon into the trio's direction. Macbeth raised a confused eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Jack and Declan, however, burst into laughter.

"You have to be kidding, kiddo!" the cyborg man answered mockingly as he approached Caleb with his claws ready to slash him. "We're three against one, you are in a complete disadvantage, whoever you are."

"I think I can turn it into a two against one." Caleb remarked calmly.

"Ahaha!" Jack laughed again. "Yeah? And how so?"

"You are that crazy woman's brother, aren't you?" Caleb asked as he pointed into the same direction Jack was looking at moments ago. "I let her with one arm cut off and bleeding out from the resulting wound about four of five streets into that direction.

Jack's expression changed then, from one of mockery of superiority to one of anger and concern. "What? Kid, you better start making better jokes for your life's sake, because that one wasn't funny."

"It wasn't a joke." Caleb said as his green eyes took on a cruel light. "I cut her arm, and I let her bleeding. I also rescued the girl you were planning to capture, sending her home." That one was more for the Regents than to his opponent. Matt, Napoleon and Huggles sighed in relief, albeit both cat and teenager were slightly worried about the totally cold way into were Caleb had described Helen's fate. There was something there, a tranquil, cold fury running in Caleb's eyes, that Matt found incredibly dangerous. He was sure that, if still in control of Shagon's abilities of feeding in hatred, he could be gaining quite the amount of power right now.

"So if I was you and I wanted to keep my sister alive, I would be running by now." Caleb remarked coldly.

Jack eyed Caleb for a few moments, trying to discern the least bit of doubt or deception in the former rebel's eyes. He found no one, the green eyed bastard was being serious, or he could lie with the same ease he breathed. Everything considered, the augmented human couldn't make take any risks. "Fuck you." Jack uttered in total despise as he turned around and rushed into the direction the young soldier had pointed at. That left Caleb with only Declan and Macbeth to deal with.

"See?" Caleb said as he redirected his attention to the pair. "Two against one."

"You think that changes anything?" Declan boasted as he made his fists collide with each other. "I'm still able of smashing you like a bug."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Oh no, a brute whose only advantage is a lot of strength, never seen that one before." Caleb mocked into a deadpan tone; clearly enraging Declan and making Macbeth restrain a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm so going to beat you into a pulp, boy..." Declan threatened as he prepared a charge, but got interrupted by Macbeth, who put a hand in front of him.

"Control yourself, Declan." the old arms dealer said. "He's playing you."

" _Ah, smart one. Probably in charge._ " Caleb thought. His gaze shifted from Declan to Macbeth and back various times, and he contained a smirk. It was like seeing Frost and Raythor all over again. He knew exactly how to exploit that.

"Yes Declan, we wouldn't want you to hurt your little head." Caleb remarked. "Obey your leader."

"He's not my leader!" Declan shouted, putting Macbeth's hand aside. "I'm going to make a splat out of you!" he said as he charged towards Caleb, to which Macbeth grunted and pulled his weapon just in case he needed to shot the boy down.

Caleb awaited the incoming attack, evading it by heading onwards himself and lowering in just the exact second Declan threw a curve punch, successfully sneaking behind the hulking human. However, as Caleb prepared to cut the man's back, Declan jumped backwards; forcing Caleb to run out of the way as the hulking man fell in his back with the intention of smashing him.

"Just because I'm the brawns doesn't mean I have no brain," Declan remarked. "Counterattacking sneak attacks is the first thing that you learn in pro-wrestling!"

" _Damn, he almost got me there._ " Caleb thought with blame. " _I got too carried away; I'm still tired after that fight with the woman..._ "

Caleb adopted a more defensive position in order to wait for Declan, but instead his sword was blasted out of his hands by one of Macbeth's blasts. The old arms dealer looked cockily at the young soldier. "Sorry, but I don't like losing my time. Declan?"

"With pleasure." The hulking beast of a man charged towards Caleb, and this time he landed a punch in the young man's stomach, sending him to the ground. Declan put a foot over his chest and Macbeth approached, pointing his gun to the boy's head.

"This has to be the least impressing rescue of history, boy." Macbeth said as he scratched his beard. " _Unless it's not a rescue..._ " Macbeth thought as he looked at Caleb and how he was smirking at him.

He turned around and cursed internally as he saw how the three Regents were up again, the devices that casted the dome of anti-magical energy was gone, and at the three magical warriors' side stood a small, green, goblin-like creature that was currently toying with the devices responsible for the Regents' previous incapacitation, scraping it and tossing at its cables as if investigating it.

"Uh! Blunk could get pretty benefits from these!" the Passling said tearing the devices apart.

"It's payback time." Matt stated in a deadpan tone.

"Agh, swizzle sticks!" Macbeth said as he noted his soul falling to his feet. " _There goes my easy way of reclaiming my little empire…_ "

"What?!" Declan exclaimed, while Macbeth was quick to draw his weapon against the Regents, just for it to be blasted away from his hands thanks to one of Matt´s eyebeams. The winged man shot other three beams; one obliterated Macbeth's gun, the other two struck him in the chest, sending the old arms dealer flying and then to the ground, albeit he got to one knee shortly after. " _Tough bastard_." Matt thought.

Meanwhile, Huggles and Napoleon rushed towards Declan and punched him at the same time, sending the man away from Caleb. Matt flew a few meters and offered a friendly hand to the former rebel, helping him to incorporate.

"Took you long enough," Caleb grunted as he stretched his limbs.

"Sorry, I just enjoy when they beat you up." Matt retorted funnily, albeit he was clearly preoccupied by what Caleb had said earlier. There was something wrong with the meridianite, something wrong in how he moved, how he acted. Every Regent present could feel it.

"So, where's Cornelia?" Caleb asked. Ah, of course he would ask for her first.

"Protecting the old members of CHYKN, I think." Matt answered. "Or out there fighting a cyborg that is out for revenge… I'll explain later."

"The kid's right, Rebel-Boy," Napoleon dry and deep vice came next. "Now we should focus in these two," he said as he pointed towards Macbeth and Declan. "Thank you for saving Lillian and our asses, by the way."

"Come on!" Declan shouted as he punched the ground and got up. "Me and the old man are enough for all of you."

" _No we aren't; you idiotic brute._ " Macbeth thought. He looked at the three Regents, Caleb (now with his sword again) and Blunk. He saw how Napoleon extended is claws and how Huggles cracked his knuckles. His weapon was gone, and Declan hadn't stood a chance against one of these beasts, so clearly he couldn't keep with three. And on top of that, the girl was gone! That Riddle bastard, showing off his planning ability to get played out by a boy with nothing but a stick of metal in the end! " _But I still have the money Doomstad got for me in my accounts…_ " Macbeth thought. " _And the boys I called while the others were being transformed should have got the weapons out of the country now…_ "

"Okay, you pair of talking fur coats!" Declan said as he eyed both Napoleon and Huggles with determination. "Who's first?"

But before Declan could launch his suicide attack, Macbeth positioned himself at the brute's side, throwing his remaining weaponry to the Regents' feet and raising his hands. "I surrender!" he said.

Declan looked confused at the old former arms dealer. "Wha- How- You- Coward!"

"Pragmatic, Declan. It's called being pragmatic." Macbeth said with a sly smirk.

"Pragmatic?!" Declan protested, turning his back in the Regents and the meridianites. "You stupid old timer… I should've known that you were going to betray us!" Declan turned his attention towards his adversaries again. "Well, you will have to do only with me and forget about the coward… Awk?!"

In the time Declan had denounced Macbeth's behavior, Caleb had crossed the distance between the two of them and shoved his sword in the hulking man's chest as soon as he had turned around. "Or maybe he's not a coward, and he's being intelligent." Caleb taunted coldly as Declan fell to his knees, blood pouring from his wound and coloring Caleb's sword. "It seems your musculature doesn't compare to a piece of armor." Caleb said as he got his sword out of the man's chest and with a swift movement he cut Declan's throat. The last thing the former pro-wrestler saw before hitting the ground were a pair of cold green eyes.

"Christ…" Macbeth muttered in surprise.

"CALEB!" Matt shouted in anger, approaching the former Rebel Leader and taking him by the shoulders so he was forced to look at him. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"A killing," Caleb answered tranquilly. "That's obvious."

"Why did you do that?!" Matt asked, his eyes almost bulging, a blood vessel could have exploded there if he wasn't in his Regent form.

"Because he would have fought to the end if not," Caleb explained coldly. "And I think none of us had time to loss here. We have a prisoner, and I doubt that the other two will come after what I did to that woman. Now, take your hands from me, and we can go back to Cornelia's home, so you can check in her little sister."

Matt looked at Caleb, and the soldier looked back at the Regent. For a moment there was a small battle of wills there, something unspoken that passed between the two men. Matt ended getting his hands out of Caleb and directed to his fellow Regents. "Let's get back to the Hales' home. I don't know how they may have reacted to all… _this_."

Huggles made sure that Macbeth always walked at his side and in front of Napoleon, the old arms dealer cooperating as best as he could. Caleb directed the March, while Matt looked down from the dark, cold skies of the night. Inside his mind, he could hear the unmistakable laughter of Shagon.

" _Hahaha… Boy takes after his mommy, it seems._ "

And for the first time, Matt couldn't avoid giving his inner demon all the reason.

* * *

"Sis! Sis!" Jack called in the streets. "Helen, where're you?!"

"Jack!" the female cyborg called. "I'm here!"

The male sibling searched for his sister, just to see that the boy hadn't been kidding, she truly was missing an arm; though the augments had made sure she didn't bleed out after the cut. Jack kneeled and helped Helen to her feet. "Okay, were are good. Are we good?"

"He cut my fucking arm! How I'm supposed to be good?!" Helen complained.

"Sorry, it's what you usually say in these kind of situations." Jack answered. "We'll get your arm, then go to Doomstad, and get you patched up." Jack's expression devolved into a sneer. "And then we will find that medieval kid, all his friends, and we will make them into a fucking piece of modern art!"

"Amateurs."

Jack and Helen looked at the exit of the alley they were currently in. There, standing with the arms crossed at his back, clothed in an elegant suit, Tony Vandom was looking at them with a cruel smile. Jack and Helen looked at the newcomer with surprised gazes. Who the hell was that? When did he get there?

"You couldn't kill a rabbit even if it was in front of you, offering you a loaded gun that pointed to its head."

"What the hell is today?!" Jack yelled. "Who the hell are you, another friend of those freaks?!"

Tony chuckled. "Well, not exactly. But you know the one with wings? Matt? That's my daughter's boyfriend. Not that I really care for him, but my daughter holds him into great esteem, and I actually would enjoy having grandchildren one day, so I suppose I would be a terrible father if I let you run away when you have tried to kill him."

"I think that you don't know with whom you are dealing with here." Jack threatened as he distanced from Helen and approached Tony. "And I'm getting tired of your crap!" the male Renard sibling said as he launched himself towards Tony, trying to strike him in the neck, which he actually did, as the redhead wasn't trying to defend himself. However, as Jack's claws did impact with the man's neck, they shattered into nothing but tiny pieces, letting both Jack and Helen looking in surprise and slight fear at that, and Tony laughing.

"No, no… I know exactly with whom I'm dealing, with a pair of idiots that think themselves the worst of the worst just because they have killed a few persons and raped another bunch. Me?" Tony said as his eyes lighted in red. "More than a century ago I terrorized the whole city of London with my own presence. Six hundred years ago, I took control of Valaquia and my men and I held back the one that at the time was called Ultimate Empire just by the fear we inspired in the hearts of the enemy. Raping? Pillaging? I was doing that before I learned how to talk the insufferable gibberish you call language. And that's just counting the things I had done in _this_ world. I have _destroyed_ so many people in so many ways that it has lost almost all the fun. Almost."

"Who… who the hell are you?!" Helen shrieked as Tony's body started to change. Leathery wings sprouted out of his back, and twisted horns grew from his forehead. The suit let place to a reddish skin, the teeth let place to fangs, the hands to claws, the feet to talons.

"Tony Vandom, Richard Pickman, Jack the Ripper, Nosferatu, Mephistopheles, Vladimir 'Dracul' Tepes, Sammael…" the redhead cited as if he was reading a list of names. "I am the Count, born of the flesh and blood of the Third One." The monster eyed both Renard siblings with a predatory gaze, and his mouth opened revealing a set of powerfull and long fangs. "And you?"

"You are just humans."

* * *

 ** _Iron, flames and a boy_**

"EXPLAIN!"

Nigel's shout echoed through the night, only the crisping sound of the flames emanating from Taranee's body accompanying it until it melted and disappeared in the air of the night. The petition of the boy fell in deaf ears, as neither Guardian of Fire nor cyborg answered to his plea. Nigel looked between the two of them, and for a moment Danny could have sworn that there were tears in his brother's eyes.

"It's... it's too much to explain it now, Nigel." Danny remarked with a small smile in his face. His voice had stopped from sounding metallic time ago, now he sounded completely normal again. Human.

 _Weak..._ ; the voice said again.

"Then make an effort!" Nigel yelled again.

"This is a waste of time." Taranee remarked just to take Nigel by the throat, elevating him from the ground and looking him in the eyes. "Stay out of this." she said as she threw him into the air. Nigel landed a few meters away, and Taranee launched a fireball to Danny, successfully throwing the cyborg out of balance and making him hit the ground in his back.

"Is this when you kill me, Taranee?" Danny asked.

"Of course!" Taranee yelled, her eyes flashing with flames wrath. She shoot two thin flame bullets to his chest just to see if it was as resilient as it was beforw, and then charged a ball of flame by extending her palm towards Danny's head.

"Yeah, shot me with that fire of yours; go on and kill me." Danny thought. "At least Nigel will see what kind of monster you all really are."

But contrary to his expectations, a red lightning stroke the ground between the Guardian and him. The other four girls landed in front of him, albeit the blond one had to be carried by the brunette.

"What?" Danny thought confused.

"What are you doing?!" Taranee demanded, her eyes now expressing shock and disbelief alongside wrath. "Get out of my way!"

"No." Will answered plain but defiantlly, authority reeking from her voice. "I won't let you, we won't let you."

"You don't have any word in this!" Taranee replied furiously, as she stomped the ground with her feet, provoking a miniature wave of flames. "This is my fight! My enemy! My revenge!"

"Have you listened to what you just said?" it was Cornelia now. "Taranee please, see reson, there is no more need for this. You have won here."

"Won?! WON?!" Taranee almost hissed. "I won't have won until he's nothing but ashes!"

"Taranee, chill out! Look at yourself!" Irma shouted. "C'mon, you're better than this!"

At that Taranee chuckled, then let a huge laugh to escape her mouth. "Says the one who wanted to kill Sylva in cold blood!" the Fire Guardian said histrionically, a statement that made Irma to finch slightly.

"Taranee, I understand from what you are passing..." Will said in order to make her friend to stop, but the only thing she got was a small fireball thrown in front of her feet. _Too close_ to her feet.

"Why? Because your parents got divorced?" Taranee asked in a tone that bordered in cruel. "Yeah, that's pretty comparable to having one of them turning out to be a criminal. Don't give me that shit and get out of my way!"

Will stared at Taranee for minutes, unable to utter a word. Yet neither the redhead neither none of her companions made a move. After the silence, the leader of WITCH breathed three times and spoke again. "Taranee, listen..."

"NO! SOMEONE HAS TO PAY!" the Fire Guardian yelled at the top of her lungs, and for a second, small flames started to drop from her eyes and roll over her cheeks, as if they were tears. After all, wrath is fuelled but nothing but pain. "For my tears! For my father's! For Kandrakar, for these corpses at the mall! Someone has to be guilty! Someone has to be at fault! Well for me, He is!" Taranee roared to the sky, a torrent of flames escaping her mouth, her teeth becoming flamed fangs. "And I won't let you get in my way! I'll have my revenge!"

"GOD DAMN IT, TARANEE, I WON'T LET YOU BECOME A KILLER JUST LIKE THAT!" Will shouted too, a current of scarlet lightning running through her body as she clenched her fists.

"None of us will." Hay Lin said next.

"Neither will I;" Nigel's voice irrupted in the conversation, the teenage boy positioning himself at the quartet's side and eyeing his girlfriend, the weapon still in his arms. "Taranee, I know that… well, no I don't know what's going on here. But I know one thing, and that's the fact that this isn't who you are, what you are. I don't know how my brother had become that thing, but please, stop this madness. This isn't the girl I fell in love with."

"You are speaking as if you have a word in this," Taranee spoke, the flames of her body heating even more and dancing violently.

"So are you." Will stated as she took the jewel that hanged around her neck and held it between the four of them and Taranee.

Taranee's eyes bulged and she roared as she launched one of her flaming hands towards Will, but she was unable to get to the Heart before the pink flash enveloped all five of them, reverting to their original selves. An angry shriek crossed Heatherfield's night skies. Something akin to the sound that a defiant beast utters as it dies. The voice, the whisper of harm and anger disappeared then from Taranee's mind, leaving behind nothing but the thought of disappointment.

Taranee fell to the ground in midair, the wounds product of her battle prominent now even if cauterized by the fire, the bruises abundant and large. The girl looked enraged at her friends and got to her feet slow and with difficulty.

"You have… changed nothing," Taranee said, albeit panting. Without her Guardian form it was clear that the exhaustion of the battle and the pain of the wounds inflected to her by Danny were taking its tool in her. "I still… I still…" Taranee tumbled before making a fireball in her palm. "I still… can…"

"No you can't."

Turning around the four remaining Guardians looked into Danny's direction, the cyborg had just sat in the ground; his legs closed one over the other; arms over his thighs. He was panting too, the adrenaline of the fight long gone, and his body hurting. "You are too tired to continue, Cook- Taranee." Danny said as he raised one of his hands and looked at it. Where did the metal end and where did the flesh start? Under that black armor; under the cables, and vials connected to his nervous system, where did they separate?

"But…" Danny took air and passed his armored hand over his shaved head, carefully noting the metallic parts that remained as his hand travelled all the way over his head and down the back of his neck. He came to a conclusion: too much metal. And the words of the girl still echoed in his mind, her expression as she confronted her friends still constant. The eyes ready to kill, the suffering in them; the lack of complete humanity that they possessed for a moment. " _Did I look like that when I attacked her?_ " his eyes looked at Nigel, his brother looking at the scene with a heartbroken expression, still clutching the gunshot. "But you have won this one." Danny muttered as he turned around and started to leave.

"Oh no… you don't dare to…" Taranee said, just to stumble with her own feet and fell to her knees, the fireball in her hand disappearing, her body too weak to continue. Her vision started to blurry and, unable to continue to cope with the tension, she fell unconscious; her head would have hit the ground if not for Nigel's and Will's intervention, the two of them holding the girl in order to prevent her total fall to the ground, Will letting Nigel to hold the girl in his arms, the gunshot thrown aside. Danny looked at his brother for another moment, but he didn't say anything.

"Is that all?" Cornelia asked from the cyborg as he tried to leave, Danny turning around to face the blonde. "You threat our elders, our friends; you torture Taranee and almost drive her insane; and now you just leave? Doesn't your own brother deserve an explanation?"

"Let him go, Cornelia." Nigel spoke to the blonde.

"But…" Cornelia protested, just for Nigel to deposit Taranee completely in the ground, stand up and walk to in-between the girls and his own brother. "What is he going to do? He's nothing but an idiotic coward."

"Nigel…"

"No! Now you listen to me, brother!" Nigel shouted. "That's the girl I love, and you almost killed her! For what? For revenge? Everyone that has spoken to me about you since all this shit with Mrs. Cook and Peter came into the light has told me that you were dead! Did you ever think about what mom and dad have been passing since that?! Have you ever thought about telling them that their son, who they haven't seen in years, is still alive?!"

"Nigel, I…" Danny started to say, but he was cut by Nigel once again.

"I said that now you listen!" Nigel yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Attacking innocent people like that…"

"They aren't innocent." Danny replied, thinking about the Purges Khor had informed them about, thinking about what they did to Mr. Riddle, about what they did to him. "It was I who had to spend years inside a prison because of what that woman and Peter did."

"And you attack Taranee because…?!" Nigel spoke. "You aren't any different from Theresa, Danny. Just blaming innocents for the failures of others, the pain you feel and your own egoism."

"Nigel, brother…"

"Don't ' _brother_ ' me!" Nigel shouted. "Get the hell out of here before I let the girls to _vaporize_ you." the teenager spitted in anger as he turned his back to his brother and returned to Taranee's side, the other four Guardians forming a circle around them. Danny sighed and walked away from the almost melted and trashed street, the shadows of the night enveloping him and making his form disappear.

The girls and Nigel remained in silence after that, looking at Taranee with concern. "Is she going to be okay?" Irma asked at last.

"She's still breathing, that's for sure." Hay Lin answered.

"She just needs to rest, and get healed." Will stated. "Do you think that we could use the link between Halinor and us now?"

"Just one way to find out," Cornelia answered her leader.

Will thought, tapping in their telepathic link with the former Fire Guardian. " _Halinor?_ "

" _Will? Oh, thank God! I have been trying to contact you since we get out of there!_ " Halinor's thought process came. " _Where are you? How are you?_ "

" _We are okay; we won, more or less_." Will thought back. " _But Taranee needs assistance; we could use some of those healing spells of yours right now. Where are you exactly?_ "

" _We were leaving Mrs. Chacon in the Silver Dragon when we received a call from the Regents._ " Halinor thought. " _Apparently there has been an attack_."

" _What?!_ " Cornelia's thoughts echoed violently. " _Is my sister alright?_ "

" _I know that Doomstad and Riddle were playing with us…_ " Will thought. " _Good thing we have been also playing with them too. Is Lillian alright?_ "

" _Yes, but…_ " Halinor's reply sounded troubled. " _I think you should come to the Hales' residence, Will. There is a lot to talk about._ "

The telepathic conversation ended, and Will looked at her unconscious companion and the boy teen holding her. "Nigel, can I ask something from you?"

"Of course," Nigel answered.

"Good, I need you to carry Taranee and stay still very close to us four, okay?" Will asked as Nigel nodded and took Taranee in his arms. "Good. Be ready, the first time you teleport always get your head dizzy."

"Wait, tele-what?" Nigel asked as Will clapped her hands and the six of them were enveloped into a green light and let the street alone.

There, in the melted concrete, were the remaining pieces of Danny's black iron mask. Around it, flames of a platinum color started to converge and cast a shadow that shortly after took the form of Moloch, the Conqueror, who looked disappointed to the spot where the Guardians were just a moment ago.

" **I almost got her. I suppose I should let the manipulations and mind-games to Ba'al and Qetesh; she seems to have much more luck with the Keeper, but then again she is family.** " Moloch spoke to himself, his bombastic voice cracking the ground even more and making the windows of every nearby house to shatter. His shadowy self started to fade away, no longer able to hold itself together. It didn't stop the prideful demon to utter one more sentence. " **Still, to be able to influence a physical world like this again… Just a bit longer.** "

* * *

 ** _Hale residence_**

The girls and Nigel teleported exactly in front of the entrance to the building where the Hales lived; taking care that no one was there to see them. The six entered and mounted in the elevator as best as they could, the device lifting them to the floor where Cornelia's home was. When they entered, they were presented with a sight that none of them was expecting.

In the main room of the Hales' home, were Cornelia's parents, sitting in a couch with clear tired expression. At the other side were Kadma, Halinor and Endarno; clearly uncomfortable with this situation, as it was shown when they turned directly to aid Taranee's wounds, Nigel taking Taranee with them to another room. And at the other side of the room, Lillian was cheerfully hanging from one of Napoleon's arms, Huggles and Matt standing nearby. The three of them in their Regents forms.

What was the cherry on top of the situation was that no other than Blunk was also in the room, side by side with a handcuffed old man garbed in a black long coat that for his expression was clearly enjoying the situation.

"Oh, shit." Cornelia cursed, making her presence clear.

"Cornelia!" Lillian cheered and dashed towards her sister, jumping at her. "Why didn't you tell me that magic was real? Can you do magic too? Can _I_ do magic?"

"Lillian, listen…" Cornelia answered, but then Elizabeth stood up from the couch and approached her eldest daughter.

"No Cornelia. I want to know the answers to those questions too." Elizabeth demanded, eye-bags had started to form under her eyes and were now quite appreciable even under her glasses.

Cornelia looked back at the trio of her friends that remained in the presence. Will nodded, clearly giving her permission to speak. The blonde took a lot of air deeply. "Yes, magic is real. Yes, I can do magic, I'm a Guardian, and I can control everything that is connected to the element of earth. And yes, Lillian can do magic too, or she will when she is old enough to control it and we give her permission. Until then, Matt and the pets hold control over her power." Cornelia breathed then, having spoken too fast.

"I'm a witch!" Lillian cheered again with all the power that her young lungs were capable of.

"More like a goddess, but whatever." Irma remarked, just to get a scold from Cornelia and an elbowing from her girlfriend. "Sorry, have to say that one."

Meanwhile Elizabeth stared at her daughter cryptically, as if trying to discern if everything that had come out Cornelia's mouth was true or not. She decided that it was, and reacted how every mother would react. "No." the woman said.

"No what exactly?" Cornelia asked, confused.

"No to all that." Elizabeth continued, arms crossed over her chest. "I want you to stop it. Turn it off."

"You can't do that, mom." Cornelia replied. "I tried once, it didn't work."

"Of course you can!" Elizabeth replied. "Just… renounce to it!"

"No, mom; I'm not going to do that." Cornelia continued in a calmed tone.

"Why?!" Elizabeth asked.

"Because it's my responsibility." Cornelia answered. "Do you think that I asked for this, that my plan to enjoy high school was to be a warrior fairy, fighting monsters and crazy people across the universe? Do you think that I asked for my little sister to be the most powerful being of this planet, to be the target of madmen?" Cornelia made a pause and took her mother's hands into hers. "This is something that you just can't let go, that you can't ignore. I know it can be too much, but it's how it is."

"But, but…" Elizabeth mumbled. "We almost died tonight! Some crazy bitch appeared and tried to take my daughter from me! What if… what if that happens and then there is no one to do anything?" Elizabeth hugged Cornelia by surprise. "What if I lost you…?"

"Mom…" Cornelia muttered and hugged her mother back, Harold joining afterwards. Something then pulled from the older woman's clothes. Looking down, Elizabeth spotted Lillian, smiling at her.

"Don't worry mom, I'll protect Cornelia!" the little girl cheered.

"You sure will do, pipsqueak." Cornelia answered. "And besides the Regents can protect you all fine."

"Which reminds me…" Will stepped in. "What happened?"

"Some people with cybernetics appeared and tried to capture Lillian." Matt explained. "They had some kind of anti-magic weapon that almost cost us three our heads."

"The static sound…" Will muttered, to which Matt nodded in agreement.

"Your boyfriend kinda saved our lives there," Harold said to his daughter, rubbing the back of his head.

"Caleb?" Cornelia asked, and for a moment her eyes brightened.

"And Blunk! Don't forget Blunk!" the Passling said from his spot in the room. "Blunk folded Blondie's family away, rescued Regents, captured prisoner!" the small green dwarf said pointing to Macbeth.

"Technically, I surrendered…" the old arms-dealer said; a statement that passed unperceived.

"But why was Caleb here?" Hay Lin asked. "I thought that he had enough to handle in Meridian, with Tracker and Cedric…"

"Who?" Harold asked; a part of him curious.

"Evil zombie hunter and manipulative bastard that can turn into a giant snake respectively, Mr. Hale." Irma answered and then glanced at Lillian slightly. "Sorry for the bad language."

A shadow passed then over the Passling's face, clearly there was something that he was not telling. Matt was the one to talk, though.

"Caleb is not alright, Cornelia." Matt said as he started to revert to his human form, the peril now gone that the girls were here. "Something is wrong with him."

"And that is?" Cornelia demanded from the Regent.

"Let's say, for the maintenance of the little girl's innocence," Macbeth said mockingly. "That I was accompanied by three people. Two escaped, the third one… wasn't that lucky."

"What?" Cornelia asked almost in a whisper.

"Blondie should speak with Caleb," Blunk spoke. "Something very bad happened in Meridian, and Caleb is not the same as Blunk knows."

"What does that mean?" Will inquired too.

"Caleb's dad, he… Phobos killed him." the Passling answered finally, not masquerading the reality with half-truths and sugar; and before anyone else could say anything, Cornelia asked where Caleb was, and when her father told her that in her room, the blonde was gone.

* * *

In Harold's and Elizabeth's bedroom, meanwhile, the healing spell that Endarno and Halinor had casted over the Fire guardian was ending doing its job, and Taranee, lying in the bed of the Hales, started to woke up slowly. At her side, Nigel was sitting in a chair, looking tired and worried at his girlfriend.

"We have done everything we could," Kadma spoke. "We will let you two alone."

"Thank you," Nigel said to the three of them as they left the room.

Taranee mumbled something incoherent before waking completely; her dizzy eyes looking for something relatable, and finding her sweet boy, smiling at her as if nothing could go or had gone wrong.

"Nigel?" she asked slowly.

"Yes, it's me." Nigel answered in a soft voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Bad, both in and out." Taranee answered, the memories of the whole night coming back to her slowly. "Oh God, I said something horrible to Will…" Taranee breathed softly. "How do I look?"

Nigel rubbed her hands with his fingers. "Beautiful."

Taranee laughed then. "You know what I meant, silly."

"You look okay, that Endarno guy and a blond woman healed you." Nigel answered. "I think that they are going to Hay Lin's grandma's restaurant now. What's that, like your HQ, or something?"

Taranee laughed again. It felt good to laugh. When was the last time that she had tried that? Right, before the factory…

"And Danny?" Taranee asked.

"What with him?" Nigel asked. "He just walked out."

"He's your brother…" Taranee said, weakly. It was clear that she was extremely tired.

"And he was trying to kill you." Nigel answered.

"And I was trying to kill him." Taranee said. "I was just… so angry at him, at everyone. At mom, at Peter, at the girls…"

"And now?" Nigel asked.

"I don't know." Taranee answered. "Can you…," Taranee started to ask as she incorporated. "Can you accompany me home? My dad could be getting worried about me."

"Sure." Nigel said as he helped Taranee to get out of the bed and walk by leaning against him. "I know that, if you apologize very hard, Will will teleport us to your house."

Taranee laughed again. "What about your brother?"

Nigel frowned slightly. "I don't know. I suppose he's angry too But he will come back, I know. He's not so bas as to let our parents suffer like that for such an egoistic reason."

Taranee didn't make him speak more. Once they had exited the room, she would apologize to Will, to all of them. She really had been an idiot, letting her emotions take the best of her. Right now she didn't want someone to pay. Right now she just wanted to stay with Nigel, sleep, and let all this to pass.

* * *

 ** _Cornelia's room_**

As one couple abandoned one room, another reunited in another one. Cornelia closed the door to her room silently, making sure that she didn't make a fush. Previously to enter she had stopped in front of the closed door, her rush ending drastically, the blonde calming down and thinking before acting. What was she going to say? What could she say? What could she do?

His father, Julian, the man who just wanted a place free of corruption and tyranny. The man who always stood silent and humble in the back of the lines, taking care that not even one soldier was left behind. The man who had supported, cared for and loved the man she had fallen in love with.

Julian, the man who didn't give up, the man who believed in the good of the people even after discovering that the woman he loved had practically raped him. He was dead.

Julian was dead.

His father was dead.

" _Caleb's father is dead_."

She had crossed the door almost in an impulse of bravery, and now was looking at the insides her room; inside was only one thing that looked different from how she had let the room that morning, and that was the brown-haired, green-eyed boy; sitting in her bed, reading a thin bunch of papers. Ah, one of her old history redactions, clearly encouraged by her father. He really was kind of obsessive about history, no wonder why he had bonded so well with Collins. Caleb seemed incredibly concentrated in reading the thing, so Cornelia thought that he hadn't sensed her arrival. She was wrong.

"I didn't know that there was a King with the name of your cat." Caleb said. Not a hello, not a greeting, much less a kiss, or even a simple look. Yes, definitely something very wrong with him.

"Well, the cat has the name of the man, not the other way around, and he was an Emperor, not a King, though I don't know exactly what the difference is." Cornelia explained. "Do you like it?"

Caleb lasted quite before answering. "You don't seem to outright state if you find him bad or good."

"Well, that's not how you're supposed to do a history redaction." the blonde continued to say. "It's supposed to just tell the information and facts, not judge them and that stuff. Also, Napoleon is a pretty controversial figure, or so my father says." Wrong word. The worst word, why had she said that word?!

Caleb didn't say anything, closing the redaction and tossing it aside. Good, he hadn't noticed. Wait, was it good that he hadn't noticed? He seemed so far away, even if he was just not more than a meter from her reach. Centimeters even. Cornelia sat at his side in the bed. "Blunk…" Cornelia took air and mashed bravery inside her. "Blunk told us about your father."

At first there was no response, just an awkward, tense silence. Caleb reclined a bit over the bed and looked at the ceiling, while Crnelia looked at the ground. Man, this was hard. Was this the same kind of mix of emotions that Will had felt when Matt's grandfather had perished at Sylva's hands? There was sadness there, pity too; but also anger, and frustration. Yes, frustration over all else. It felt like there was a thick barrier between Cornelia and Caleb right now, separating them even if Cornelia knew that if she tried to move her right arm she would probably collide with Caleb's.

"He really did that, didn't he?" Caleb asked. "I told Blunk that I wanted to tell you myself."

"Caleb…"

Something happened then there. Cornelia raised her sight from the ground, while at the same time Caleb took his from the ceiling. Both their gazes met, and Cornelia was presented with the face of her beloved, sporting a broken smile at her, and his eyes teary to the point that she knew that he only needed a little push in order to start crying. "I don't know what to do, Cornelia." Caleb said, his voice trembling. "I… I… Everything that I have passed, just for my father to be taken away from me; it's just unfair, don't you think? I was in front of him, if I had only been faster… he told me, that he loved me, and I couldn't say anything…"

A sob came from the boy's mouth, and then tears rolled down his eyes. Not being able to take it anymore, Cornelia threw her arms around the boy, taking him in an embrace and holding his head close to her chest. The rhythm of her heart could be heard by Caleb, such a comforting sound, to hear something next to him that wasn't the whistles of arrows, the roars of monsters, the laughing of maniacs or the impacts of swords against one another.

"You silly rebel boy…" Cornelia whispered into his ear as he kissed his cheek as tenderly as possible.

And Caleb cried. He cried, cried like he had not cried in years, for the first time since too much time ago. Rebels shouldn't cry, soldiers shouldn't cry, men shouldn't cry; much less the ones that lead others. But it's impossible not to cry, not for someone that still has heart, not for someone that still feels. So the boy cried.

An image, a memory from distant past flashed then in his mind. A brown haired boy was in the middle of a field of grass, practicing his swings with a sword against a Galhot child of the similar, if not the same, age. Few meters away, under the shadow of a tree, there was a bearded man supervising the spar. At one point, the Galhot child fell to the ground, result of the other kid's maneuvers, and the kid pointed his weapon to his friend's throat, proclaiming 'you're dead', in a funny manner. After helping his friend up, the boy ran to his father and asked if he had seen that. And the father smiled, ruffling the boy's hair in approval. These memories, these brilliant images these were calm in between the numerous storms.

"Dad…"

* * *

The boy's cries weakened after a while, and the embrace of his beloved around him tightened. It felt warm, incredibly warm. A part of him thought, if he alwayshad that warm, if everyone had that warm; could there be wars? Could there be monsters?

Caleb separated from Cornelia bit by bit. Something inside of him wanted to remain there, like that, without worrying about anything outside that room, without worrying about dead bodies, about petty tyrants, about lost comrades. Just Cornelia and him. But then another part of him acted; a part that reminded him that he hadn't come here just to appeal to his girlfriend's pity, something that he thought that he really didn't deserve. He breathed in order to calm himself even more.

"Better?" Cornelia asked, as she wiped a few tears of her own from her cheeks.

"Yes, better;" or at least calmed. Caleb supposed that was better than nothing. "Cornelia, I… I need to talk with you. About what happened with my father, about Meridian, about… everything."

"Okay." Cornelia said as she rubbed his back. "Do go on, I'm all ears for you."

"It's not so simple." Caleb answered. "I don't even know from where to start."

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Cornelia asked of him.

The beginning? When did all this begun? There was a part though, a part that he wanted to speak about with Cornelia, and that was very close to being the beginning. "Do you know Sonder Hill, in Meridian?" Caleb asked, and Cornelia nodded. Of course she would know, Tynar and the girls were pretty close. "Cornelia, the Rebellion… I…"

Caleb trailed again, the memories of that first night at Sonder Hill, of his first night commanding anyone, were coming back to him, and they weren't pretty.

"Cornelia, we did something horrible."

* * *

 ** _Ludmoore Manor_**

Night was coming to an end, and so was the party that had followed to the dinner in the Ludmoore manor. The guests were all abandoning the enormous residence of the Doomstad marriage, and that included Susan and Dean. From the entrance to the big house Victor and Sephiria bid farewell to their guests and saw how all of them abandoned Villa Ludmoore, some driving their own cars, some others carried in limousines or taxis. Victor's blue gaze followed the car that belonged to Susan until it disappeared in the horizon, and then both him and his wife headed back inside.

There, Sephiria took her shoes out of her feet and threw them in the air. "Finally! A whole night without being able to move comfortably, geez!"

"Sephiria please, it was a very enjoyable night." Victor said in a quite tired tone.

"The only good thing is that I got to make out with you at midnight to celebrate the New Year!" Sephiria protested, pumping her cheeks.

"Did everything go well?" the voice of Theodore Riddle took both of them by surprise. The marriage turned to him, the bald psychologist approaching them.

"How the heck did you… Nevermind, teleportation, right." Sephiria answered her own question even before the question itself was asked. "How did the night develop?"

"The girl got away, and Macbeth let himself to be taken by the enemy." Riddle answered, as he had been surveying the two ongoing main fights of the night, more or less, thanks to a pair of Victor's drones. "your tech worked fine, but there was an outside interference, a man from one of those 'Folds', I think."

"Well, at least we now know that those 'Regents' can be easily subdued." Victor said. "It's normal for a part of the plan to go wrong if we don't know about an improbable appearance. What about Daniel?"

Riddle shook his head. "I don't know, I lost contact at one moment of the fight. It seemed as if the lenses of the drone had melted. I hope that Mrs. Vandom ere didn't try anything."

"Nah, she was cool." Sephiria answered. "She had dinner, she drank, and she kissed his man at midnight like tradition demands. For hating our guts, she really didn't try a thing…"

"Hating us?" Victor asked, surprised.

"Something instinct is better than intellect, dear." Sephiria answered, poking Victor's head slightly. "Theo was right, she knows; and frankly I can understand her being angry at us, as we almost killed her daughter and all."

"The factory and the final stage of the project weren't threatened, right?" Riddle asked.

"No, don't worry." Victor reassured. "I have Bruno and Robert down there, they can take care of everything."

Riddle raised an eyebrow in sheer confusion. "Who?"

"You know; Bruno Caster and Robert Mercer." Sephiria spoke next. "The chiefs of security from Victor's enterprises."

"You don't have… you don't need…" Riddle started to say, just for realization to hit him. "Those manipulative witches!" Riddle shouted as he extended both his hands to his associates' heads, his eyes glowing as he seemed to retire some kind of helmet from over the two of them. Both Sephiria and Victor tumbled after that, almost falling.

"What was that just now?" Sephiria asked.

"Do you know someone called Bruno Caster or Robert Mercer?" riddle asked.

"No… no I don't." Victor answering, his face paling as realization hit him too.

"BLAST!" Riddle cursed in anger.

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield's streets_**

As the sun started to rise slowly in the horizon, Bruno Caster and Robert Mercer walked happily, just for the glamour that was covering them to fall apart, revealing the forms of Cassidy Chacon and Mera Lin under them. They both were carrying a bunch of USBs and CDs, each one of them containing data extracted from the underground factory.

"Still got it." Cassidy said, smirking while swing her hips slightly. It was good to be winning again.

"Please, you only got to brainwash those two because Will gave us a power-boost with her Quintessence." Mera told her teasingly. "And it only lasted due to my acting skills."

The two of them laughed as they walked side by side. They had to admit that it was a shame that they couldn't have teleported nearer to the Dragon, but enjoying the, as Cassidy called it, 'Victory Walk' was nice.

* * *

 ** _Back at the underground factory_**

"They took everything!" Victor complained as he checked one of the computers at the factory. "Well, just copy it, but still…!"

"Where was Khor during all this?!" Sephiria shrieked.

"Probably sleeping, and since we keep him in the lowest levels I suppose he couldn't smell them." Victor explained. " _That or he just ignored them, the bastard. Unless I order him to move, he won't lift a claw, will he?_ "

"That redhead played with us," Riddle explained. "We should change our priorities to dispatching her first. If we cut their strategist, then the team will follow afterwards." Riddle sighed. "I underestimated her even after our meeting, it won't happen again."

"Do we move now?" Sephiria inquired. "They are probably tired, and maybe Danny has been able to strike one of them down."

Riddle pondered that statement. "If that was the case, he could have contacted us already. Still, you are right about their tiredness. We should strike now that we have an opportunity. Take Khor from the lowest levels and…"

"I'm sorry, but I won't let you do that, amigo."

A purple barrier formed then around the three of them, Sephiria clashing with it as she tried to jump out of the reach. The barrier formed a purple dome around them, taking they by surprise. "Magic…" Riddle whispered with spite.

"All my lovely magic," Ricardo said as he entered the scene, accompanied by the woman from before. A glamour around the woman fell too, revealing the form of a slender, pale faced woman of an unidentifiable age, curly hair of a light shade of black that looked similar to a cloud in form adorning her head, her clothes strange ones, remembering to the ones sported by the white harlequins of Italy, a cylindrical and quite big hat over her head to top it all.

"Who are you?" Victor asked. "If you are more associates of Kandrakar, I'm sad to inform you that you are transposing my private property."

"Nothing in Villa Ludmoore is your property." the woman told him. Her voice was soft, but strong. "From the house to the blue roses, to the stone that surrounds this iron castle of yours, all of Villa Ludmoore serves only one master. Be thankful that he isn't here, he always was a cruel man with the ones that touched his domains." the woman walked around the dome, touching it in order to see that it had been well casted. "And answering your question, neither I nor the boy work for Kandrakar. This is Ricardo, and I'm Arkaam, the White Queen of the Fast World."

"Fast World?" Riddle demanded to know, while he tried to teleport he and his two companions out of the dome, to no avail.

"Try as much as you want." Ricardo told him. "No teleportation while inside of that. It was made to contain things much stronger than you."

"Is not that there is love lost between Kandrakar and me," the woman continued speaking. "But letting you harm them is something that the well being of this universe cannot afford." She then turned around and started to leave Ricardo following in tow.

"The spell I casted will wore off in, I don't know, give it five hours;" Ricardo explained as a green glow enveloped him and Arkaam, making them dissapear. "Until then, you all will have to wait, personitas."

"Damn it…" Victor cursed. "Sephiria are you alright?"

Sephiria looked at Victor and then at Riddle, who continued to inspect the purple dome. She blushed slightly after that, her legs rubbing against each other. "There exists the slight possibility that I may need to pee. Right now."

Riddle cursed internally.

* * *

 ** _Tony Vandom's apartment_**

"So your plan went as best as it could go?" Matt asked of Will, the two of them having gone to her father's apartment, or more precisely Matt had flown her there in his regent form; after they had exited the Hales' home. Will had teleported Taranee and Nigel to her home, but instead of doing the same for herself, the redhead had opted for flying with her boyfriend.

"Yeah, and I'm really glad for it." Will answered. "I wasn't expecting for all the fronts to be turn out in our favor, but I suppose that chance made a good point in our benefit. Don't you agree?"

"Did your mother and the girls know that they were a decoy?" Matt asked. "For Cassidy and Mera, I mean."

"Of course they did!" Will said, a bit offended. "Matt, calm yourself; I'm not going to turn into Nerissa from night to day." the redhead explained. "I just knew that Riddle and Danny wouldn't let pass the chance to harm us if they saw the whole WITCH in patrol. What they did in order to separate us from you and the Regents took me by surprise, but in the end everything turned well."

"Because we have luck." Matt deadpanned.

"Luck is as important for a strategy's success as planning." Will told her boyfriend. "I mean, you can't plan to control all the variables. Remember when I planned for Phobos to basically screw himself with the Seal a year ago and then Cedric swallowed him? You can't see those things coming, unless you're omniscient or something."

"Alright, everything well then." Matt said, starting to flat his wings and taking flight. "I think I will go home now."

"You sure you don't want to stay a little?" Will pleaded, but Matt shook his head.

"No. It has been a pretty intense night, and it's daytime now. I need to sleep."

"Okay," she said, and the two kissed as a farewell. "See you tomorrow."

As soon as Matt flew to the skies, leaving nothing behind but the enjoyable view that was for Will to see him go; the redhead entered her father's apartment again. She started to walk around the main hall, and all the rooms. It had been a very, very complicated night. If not for Caleb, they would have lost Lillian, and Taranee almost lost herself. And worst of all, even if the black girl had apologized to her from the bottom of her heart, her words to Will still hurt.

She stopped by her father's dormitory. She hadn't checked it out before, but now it seemed pretty plain. Was that how all adults were, too focused in their responsibilities that there was no time to decorate or personalize their own room' She still had her old and faithful from stuffed animals, and her posters… and her job consisted into saving the universe!

Will walked in circles around her father's and Serena's bed, bored and yet unable to distract herself until she spotted something in one of the room's shelves. She extended her arm and took it, a small, old yet apparently functional Puzzle Box now in her hand. Hey, she remembered this thing! Back in Fadden Hills she and Tony used to play a lot using that! Had Tony kept it as a memento from his old life? Or maybe as a memento of her childhood with him? Even now that the two of them had their own couple, Will sometimes asked herself how her life could have been if her parents hadn't divorced, if she had stayed in Fadden Hills. Could she have maintained all her friends there? And what could have happened with WITCH? Would have another girl taken the position of Keeper? She didn't want to think about it, so instead she decided to try to solve the Puzzle Box.

She found herself in her bedroom, clad in her pajamas as she tried to solve the damn thing. It turned out that it was really difficult, and she proud herself into being pretty good with puzzles. " _C'mon stupid box, you're supposed to be the only thing related to math I'm good at!_ " she thought.

After several intents and failures, Will decided to stop, instead turning to sleep. She was thinking that she also needed to rest after the events of tonight. For the first time since the attack at the mall she was certain that she had won. That they had won. It felt great to win again!

It wasn't long until the Keeper of the Heart was deep sleep, lost in dreams about a half naked Matt Olsen ridding a black unicorn across a field of golden camellias. Just at that moment, the Puzzle box, which had remained at one side of the bed, opened slightly, a shadow exiting it and taking the voluptuous form of Qetesh, The Tempter. The succubus ran a claw-like hand over the girl's cheek and silhouette, making her giggle.

" **There, there.** " the Third One said. " **The jewel I myself crafted, the element of Quintessence of my dear Xi Jing… Ah, I'm so proud of you**." The shadow body started to disappear shortly afterwards. " **Don't worry, my little girl, blood of my blood,** " Qetesh said as she licked Will's cheek with her worm-tongue.

" **You will meet grandma very soon**."

* * *

 ** _Heatherfield at dawn_**

Danny had been wondering through Heatherfield for hours, since his fight with Taranee had ended. He had ended into one of the industrial sectors in the outskirts of the city; the factories silent, rising around him as spears into the sky. He looked back at the city, the mantle of lights that Heatherfield was at night giving place to a silhouette of skyscrapers that reflected the first lights of January, the first lights of a whole new year.

" _A new year comes, another one goes_." Danny thought as he walked. It hurt to walk, his whole body hurt. He doubted that his armor was functioning normally, or that they could maintain running much more. He had thought about going to see his parents one last time, but he doubted that his image as a cyborg could let a better impression as the one of him behind a crystal. Or maybe it could, he didn't know.

Danny stretched his arms, or at least tried to do so. He felt as if moving was becoming harder and harder with every minute that passed. And so, he decided to sit in the ground, leaning against one of the walls of the nearer edifications. He breathed heavily and with difficulty, sometimes spitting black blood in the ground.

" _At-t-t-tention_." the AI called for him. " _Ener-gy at risky-y-y low level. Vitals activity decreas-s-s-sing. Redirect energy-y-y to self-preservation?"_

"No," Danny said. "I want to send a message, to Mr. Doomstad."

" _But the pro-o-o-otocol of self preservation says_..."

"Ignore the protocol!" Danny yelled as he coughed more black blood.

" _Ignoring protocol… redirecting energy…" the AI told him. "Ready to transmit message._ "

"Hey, Mr. Doomstad," Danny said, his armor's AI recording his message. "How did the night go? Mine turned out pretty bad, you know. I think… I think…" Danny coughed a couple of times more. "I think I'm going to die."

Danny tried to breathe slowly in order to calm himself, but he wasn't able to fight back the tears forming in his eyes. "Man, I really was an idiot. I almost killed her, you know? That Taranee girl, who hadn't raised a finger against me… I almost drove her insane, doc. And I did it for what? For revenge? You were right doc, revenge is a sucker's game, but I think that your wife understands that better than you. I'm not…" Danny coughed again. "I'm not blaming you for this doc, really. You were the first one to believe in me and give an opportunity, and I'm glad for it. But don't blame those girls… for something… they didn't do. That's exactly how I ended like this."

Danny found himself unable to keep talking. His throat had become dry thanks to the battle he had with Taranee, the walk to the outskirts, and the talking. "Message sent," the voice of the AI said before shutting down definitively. Danny was breathing with even more difficulty right now. He leaned back against the wall supporting him completely, closed his eyes and let the tiredness to take him.

" _I was stupid, so stupid… I'm sorry Nigel, for everything._ "

And with that last thought, Daniel Ashford exhaled his last breath, and died alone.

As life abandoned his body, a Fold opened in front of him, revealing the form of Yua of Arkhanta crossing it. The banshee stood silently over the dead body of the young man, and after several minutes of just gazing at it, she lowered and closed his eyes.

"It's astonishing to what extents we are able to go in order to take revenge from the ones that have caused us harm, that have made our family suffer." Yua spoke solemnly. "I was surveying your fight with the Guardian of Fire boy; I'm quite impressed; your lost is only due to your own arrogance and the intervention of one of the Four themselves. I have to attend a meeting later, and well, I suppose that it would be good to assist with a present, don't you agree?"

Yua raised her hand and a sphere of light enveloped Danny, making his armor to rebuild itself and turn from black to marvelous white with golden adornment. His face was covered by a helmet not much different from the ones that the knights of old Europe carried in their tournaments and wars. It was too of white adorned by golden, and from the holes that served as visors, two lines of blue started to glow, indicating that there was life inside the metal again, albeit not as free willed as before.

"You are now… let's see, I never was good with names…" Yua said rubbing her chin before snapping her fingers and pointing to the being in front of her. "Ser, Ser Daniel Coldheart, my Clockwork Knight. You may serve me and my allies and annihilate everyone that dares stand in our way."

The knight nodded silently, the ability to speak gone from him.

"Good," Yua approved. "Let us depart, Meridian and a lovely meeting with the Egg of the Abyss awaits us. You will be such a splendid present!"

The Fold closed at their backs as they walked. Yet, even with the banshee's intervention, the New Year let one irrevocable change in Earth. Daniel Ashford was dead.

* * *

 ** _January 3th_**

Two days passed without Riddle or any of his peers making a move against them, which let the girls to have something that they had been missing for too long; time to relax, stay with their families and enjoy their Christmas vacations, something that some of the girls had forgotten that they had.

Everything considered; Will still tried day and night to use her Quintessence into computers in order to find something important into the data that Cassidy and Mera had taken from the underground factory. Cornelia had been quite evasive these last days, preferring to employ her time with Caleb. As for Irma and Hay Lin, who currently was scrubbing the floor of the dining hall of her family's restaurant; tried to plan dates from time to time, basically enjoying their mutual company. And Taranee was currently accompanying her father to Heatherfield's prison.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lionel asked as they entered and checked with one of the officers. "You don't have to if you don't want."

"No dad, I want." Taranee said as the two of them were guided towards the front of a lonely door in the prison. "Really, I need to do this, everyone does."

One of the guards of the prison positioned himself at the side of the door, in case an emergency happened. Lionel opened the entrance and let Taranee in; they had agreed that they would enter alone, each at one turn.

Inside, Taranee found nothing but a table with two chairs; someone already occupying one of them. The girl and the person meet with their gazes, and for a moment only uncomfortable silence reigned over the room, until one fot he two spoke.

"Hello Taranee." Theresa cook said to her daughter.

Taranee closed her eyes, searching for something to say. Yeah, that was an easy one, something with which start and then build upon.

"Hello Mom."

 _And now we welcome the New Year. Full of things that have never been_.  Rainer Maria Rilke

* * *

 **A/N: There you all go. What? You thought that this story was gone because it hadn't received an update in a long time? WRONG! But just for all of you to know, this was a very hard chapter to write. Since the moment I started with this fic, I have intended to deconstruct some of the aspects of the WITCH universe. I set things in motion in order to do so in the Riddle Arc, and then I found myself unable to know how to close them. Taranee's and Danny's confrontation was one of them. At first I thought, well, let the girl kill him, I have no problems with killing characters… but then I thought that someone like Taranee couldn't recuperate from doing that. In order to ease my mind, I started to write another story that I had planned for a long time, but that turned out to absorb my time and blah, blah, blah… but here we are again now.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please let a review to let me know your impressions, and see you all in the fourth and final Meridian Interlude, Hierophatns; next time. Man, I'm actually thrilled for that one, basically because I finally want to return to the Meridian setting, even if it will delay as much as this one, I think.**

 **Bye, Bye!**


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